I’m reprising a previous (and longer) post here in hopefully simplified and clarified form, for a discussion I’m in the midst of. “Saving” and “Savings” seem like simple concepts, but they’re not. They have many different meanings, and writers’ different usages and definitions (often implicit or even unconscious) make coherent understanding and discussion impossible — even, often, […]

Banks are obviously different from households. But I think explaining two key differences goes far towards explaining why “endogenous money” theory — often pooh poohed as either confused or obvious — is important to economic thinking. The first is a dweeby accounting difference. The other, which arises from that, is very, very real. 1. When the […]

by New Deal democrat         (re-posted with permission from Bondadd blog) Sadly, Ed Yardeni is the Wanker of the Day – wage stagnation edition Dr. Ed Yardeni has some clickbait up at his blog titled, The Wage Stagnation Myth. Yardeni is a highly-regarded financial markets analyst, but this is just sad. He writes […]

by Dale Coberly VERY SHORT POST ON SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has issued a “call for papers” with suggestions for “fixing” SSDI. I expect that by “fixing” they mean cutting people off and getting them back to work. After all, even people on IV’s could work as telephone […]

Mark Thoma wrote today that the Fed should not raise rates too soon, because… “If the Fed raises rates too soon, it is working class households who will be hurt the most by the slower recovery of employment.” His thinking is not deep enough. He just sees that a rise in the Fed rate will […]

Okay, well, as all you AB regular readers know, yesterday I posted a post deconstructing—and, yes, that’s what I did—a blog post on the Forbes website by William F. Cannon.  He blogs there on “health, freedom, and other uncertainties,” but his day job is Director of Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. The studies apparently entail […]

by: Mark Jamison; A retired Postmaster having served the town and community of Webster, N.C. Mark can also be read on Save The Post Office, a blog discussing the state of the USPS. “In the following weeks, Mr. Green would go on to scream at me, ALL YOU ARE IS A LIABILITY, YOU EXIST ONLY […]

Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subpoenaed documents from the Treasury Department and IRS that could have a huge impact on Pruitt v. Burwell, Halbig v. Burwell, King v. Burwell, and Indiana v. IRS – four lawsuits that could have a huge impact on ObamaCare. Those cases challenge the federal government’s ability to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable […]

Jared Bernstein has offered a muscular and cogent response to my recent take-down of his CAP paper on inequality and growth. (I called it “week-kneed.”) I’d like to respond to his many excellent points in just two ways. 1. My critique is primarily of his rhetoric, not his reasoning. Progressives, IMO, should be shouting the manifest reality […]