Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Senator Sanders on the The Transformation of American Society

This is an 11 minute clip of his speech, “The Lone Star Strategy.” It is worth a listen. The Lone Star Strategy Senator Bernie Sanders Republicans’ efforts to cut food stamps and defund the Affordable Care Act are just “the beginning of the game,” Sanders said. “All of these issues are related to something that […]

Is a world of bubbles sustainable?

If capital can always flee from one bubble to another bubble in another country, there will always be bubbles. Is it sustainable to always have bubbles somewhere that can give refuge to fleeing capital? …….. Probably yes, in spite of the problems left behind. Many years ago, I was in the Zocalo, central park of […]

Inflation is a game of cat and mouse

I have been reading David Romer’s class notes called Short-run fluctuations. Part of his paper deals with a model to explain inflation in a liquidity trap. The model is based on real interest rates, output, expected inflation, Keynesian cross and IS-MP model stuff. He writes… “An economy where the nominal interest rate is zero poses […]

Kochcare vs. Obamacare: Finally, Finally, Obama Comes Out Swinging

Mr. Obama also singled out sponsors of a “cynical ad campaign” discouraging Americans from signing up for the new health care program by arguing that it would effectively put the government into the room when women undergo gynecological exams and men undergo colonoscopies. “These are billionaires several times over,” Mr. Obama said, evidently referring to […]

Maggie Mahar Healthbeat Blog: Reverse “Sticker Shock” Part 2 –Subsidies Mean Enormous Saving for Older Americans

In the past I have written about how government tax credits will help young adults (18-34) who must buy their own coverage because they don’t have access to “affordable, comprehensive” employer-sponsored coverage. But older Americans forced to purchase their own insurance will save even more. Precisely because a 50-year-old’s premiums may be three times higher […]

Improvement in employment will signal the end of the business cycle

An issue arose in the comments at a previous post, Labor share is chopped liver to Mr. Krugman. The issue is whether increasing employment in order to increase wages and labor share is a good strategy for fiscal and monetary policy. Dean Baker, Paul Krugman and others put forth this strategy. It seems common understanding […]

Jon Chait tries to contrast cutting food stamps and welfare reform

Jon Chait argues that the SNAP cuts passed by the House are horrible and unlike the 1996 welfare reform. Is the “work requirement” they plan to impose on food stamps like welfare reform? There are three highly salient differences. Welfare benefits were specifically designed in a way, dating from their origin as a replacement for […]

Mr. Mankiw is reading the wrong paper on minimum wages

Greg Mankiw reviews a paper written trying to support minimum wages. Mr. Mankiw is not in favor of minimum wages and was not sold by the paper. The best paper that I know of on minimum wages was written by Bruce Kaufman. His paper was titled, Institutional Economics and the Minimum Wage: Broadening the Theoretical […]