The misconceptions embodied in this post’s headline sow more confusion in economic discussions than any others. “Saving” and “Savings” seem like simple concepts, but they’re not. They have many different meanings, and their different usages (often implicit or unconscious) make coherent understanding and discussion impossible — even, often, in writings by those who have otherwise […]
by Spencer England Last week Kevin Erdmann at the idiosyncratic whisk blog published this chart to demonstrate how minimun wages have caused teen employment to suffer. It is an interesting chart, but it suffers from the sin of omitted variables. I constantly see similar charts from those opposing the minimum wage were they seem to […]
It’s that number again. As noted by Dylan Scott at TPM, according to the latest Pew poll 27% of US adults think that the Republican party “is more willing to work with the other party” than the Democratic party. For earlier appearances of 27% see Kung Fu Monkey John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% […]
I was having a discussion with a conservative friend recently, and challenged him to write up a budget for a decent life for a responsible, hard-working American: Living in Shoreline, a relatively inexpensive area north of Seattle. Divorced, two kids. Not very smart or capable, but has worked hard their whole adult life. He has […]
Would you believe one fourth full ? No how about one tenth full ? How about not as dry as the Sahara desert ? Recently I asked the question. Keynes dismissed the PIH (well before it re-emerged) as follows when discussing consumption in Chapter 8 of The General Theory … (6) Changes in expectations of […]
Time for a bit of comic relief. (video below the fold) Julianna reporting on Net Neutrality. Remember when President Obama said the days of lobbyists setting the agenda was over? I’m posting this here because this is about “markets”. It is about competition. It is about freedom. The free market competition of…wait for it…IDEAS. It […]
Here, here!
Paul Krugman is my hero. I credit him–him alone, really–with ending, finally, the Peterson Foundation’s capture of almost all of the mainstream news media as their PR outfit. Just as I credit Occupy Wall Street, also alone, with finally ending the decades-long political prohibition of class warfare by any group but the hedge fund/CEO crowd. […]
Barry Ritholtz is talking about the Bull market coming to an end. It is no surprise to me. My equations of effective demand may finally be cracking the code of the business cycle. But I want to say that knowing where the business cycle ends is the ultimate transparency in capitalism. Barry, as usual, makes […]