by Joseph Joyce European Doldrums European economies are faltering.  The German economy contracted in the second quarter, as did those of France and Italy. Growth in Spain and the Netherlands was not enough to offset the slowdown in the Eurozone’s largest members.  An escalation in the confrontation with Russia would send shockwaves rippling from the […]

Part 3 of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century is the longest section of the book (230 pages out of 577), providing his analysis of inequality at the level of individuals. Notably, Piketty largely avoids the use of the familiar Gini index because, in his view, it obscures the issue by combining the effects […]

[T]here is probably no one more gung ho for Obamacare repeal than [Senate Republican nominee] Tom Cotton. He talks about it all the time. So he obviously would roll back the Arkansas version of the state’s Medicaid expansion, right? Well, he has consistently refused to say. And in a new interview this week, Cotton was pressed on […]

I have been writing about the Effective Demand rule for monetary policy lately. The version that I have been showing uses a labor share anchor, which is a projection of where labor share will be at the natural limit of the business cycle. Labor share has always tended toward its labor share anchor at the […]

What would the Fed funds rate be if we were in normal times? Basically, what would the Fed funds rate be if we used a rule instead of the discretionary policy being used by the Fed? I use my Effective Demand rule using the CPI (less food & energy) data released just this morning. My […]

Lifted from comments on Financing Social Security, Bruce Webb comments on Social Security prpaganda: Jim, the problem is that those people with “government, financial, business experience” who are promoting the message “No check for you!” to millennials know full well the numbers behind the following equation: No Check for You = After Trust Fund Depletion a […]

I see so many listings about older dogs whose owner can no longer care for him or her, usually because of finances. I just received this sweet, touching email notice,* from Hempstead Animal Shelter in Wantaugh, NY (Nassau County), via RescueMe.org, and thought I’d pass it along. *Corrected link, thanks to Noni Mausa.  A note has […]

We see more talk now about how the Fed may have to raise its base overnight rate (Fed funds rate) faster than planned. Data is coming out that points to a need to raise the Fed funds rate. Last week I posted this graph showing the Fed funds rate in comparison to the “Effective Demand” […]

Noah Smith thinks on the implications of a feeling of belonging to America in relation to Fergeson, MI. Edward Harrison’s comments 6:21 PM are worth noting.