I do not think that the actions of the Troika or of the 18 non Greek members of the Eurogroup are defensible. I am quite confident that, if they can be defended, IMF head economist O.J. Blanchard is the man for the job. He is very very smart and doesn’t just assume that Keynes was […]
I’ll make this short and then turn it over to you all. As long as Trump is polling in the top 2 or 3 in early States he can’t drop out and the RNC can’t force or even encourage him to drop out. After all he is “Winning” by the only measure that matters this […]
My aspiration for the country and I believe we can achieve it, is 4 percent growth as far as the eye can see. Which means we have to be a lot more productive, workforce participation has to rise from its all-time modern lows. It means that people need to work longer hours. — Jeb Bush, in an […]
I think that the Greeks would be wise to abandon the Euro and introduce their own currency. Very few Greeks agree with me. Also many very smart economists around the world strongly strongly disagree with me. I will try to explain the case for a new Greek currency. 1) ECB blackmail is a crucial consideration. […]
Oh, dear. This post of mine from yesterday is soooo yesterday. (Okay, sooo last-weekend, to be precise.) The attempt to paint Sanders as the Democrats’ Donald Trump has failed. Sanders isn’t the left’s Donald Trump; he’s the left’s Ron Paul! At least according to a rapidly congealing CW pushed by pundits that include—surprisingly—at least one progressive one. Freelance […]
Stranger things have happened in American politics, but the sudden surge of Democratic/populist Bernie Sanders and Republican/populist Donald Trump puts one in mind of alternate universes. And I don’t mean Miss Universes. Both men are holding second place in some polls behind Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, respectively. And both are steadily ascending in the polls at a greater pace […]
Paul Krugman uses elementary Keynesian Macroeconomics to argue that the austerity demanded by the Troika would reduce the Greek debt to GDP ratio, if at all, only by causing deflation and increased Greek net exports. This means that it would take a very long time (or forever) to reduce the Greek debt to GDP ratio […]
Greece Interior Ministry Results all regions voting ‘OXI’ = ‘No’ Huffington Post: Live Updates: Greece Votes In Referendum On Bailout Proposal More links as afternoon progresses. This article by Steve Randy Waldman at Interfluidity has been getting a lot of play around the Intertoobz since yesterday (I also linked to it in Comments on the […]
“Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate… It will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up from less competent people.” -Andrew W. Mellon […]