Nature recently published a paper on “degrowth”.  Libertarian economist Donald Boudreaux immediately attacked the paper with his usual collection of pro-market, anti-government arguments.  Fine.  But then Boudreaux published a letter he got from Daniele Struppa, president of Chapman University.  Here is a brief excerpt: It is just a manifesto for a deindustrialization of the west, […]

In a recent post, Matt Yglesias argues for using fiscal policy – tax increases or benefits cuts – to control inflation, rather than relying on interest rate hikes.  There is certainly an argument to be made here, but his suggestions for reducing consumption seem less than ideal. Yglesias floats the idea of limiting Social Security […]

Some people believe that a DeSantis presidency would be a bigger threat to democracy than a second Trump presidency.  The thought is that DeSantis is just as authoritarian as Trump, but more competent.  I agree that DeSantis appears to be a dangerous authoritarian and he might well be more effective than Trump at undermining democratic […]

How hard should the Fed hit the brakes to bring inflation down?  The answer to this question depends, in part, on just how damaging you think inflation is.  And one reason to think that inflation is harmful is simply that most people – normal people, not CEOs or financiers – seem to really dislike it.  […]

A friend sent this along, no link:

It has been widely noted that Trumpy Republicans have largely accepted vote tallies and conceded defeat.  There have been few strong claims of fraud or election theft by major candidates (the main exception so far appears to be Kari Lake), and no efforts that I am aware of to mobilize protests against the election results, […]

Three different people, same crappy emotion? Trump has been an electoral liability for the Republican party for at least the last 3 elections, and possibly 4 (depending on what you think would have happened in 2016 without Trump).  So far, his power over MAGA voters and his spitefulness – his evident willingness to tear down […]

As I write this it is still possible the Democrats will lose control of Congress, with all that entails, but the Democrats did outperform the fundamentals, and it is useful to think about why.  Here is my quick list of possible explanations: Increased partisanship and decreased cross-over voting (see here). Inflation may not be as […]

According to political scientist John Sides, the fundamentals suggest that Democrats should expect to lose 1 to 3 Senate seats and 40 to 45 House seats.  Going into the election today, polls suggest that the Democrats are likely to lose the House and possibly the Senate, but not by as much as one might expect […]

This year I canvassed in MI before the primary and in NC last week.  I don’t like canvassing, it’s boring and tiring, but you do meet some interesting people and see things you would not otherwise see.  A few observations. Many people seem to be *deeply* isolated.  One woman said she could not open the […]