It is sometimes argued that Conservatives and Republicans are anti science. There is often a quest for Ballance (or a so’s your mother reply from conservatives). I recall reading about liberal anti vaxxers (sorry I don’t recall actual URLs). Chris Mooney noted that there is no detectable association of vaccine phobia with partizanship or ideology. […]
No wait don’t go bear with me. The irritating messages have headers such as 3399949424 @EricTrump: Really p 3399940424 @realDonaldTrump and 3399940424 @realDonaldTrump So how do Eric and Donald Trump (who appear to be so poor that they are sharing a cell phone) know that an Italian resident TIM customer is a US citizen who […]
Needless to say, Donald Trump has expressed some odd ideas on the US national debt. He has argued that we can’t afford this or that because we are 19 trillion in debt, promised to pay back the debt in 8 years, & asserted that the debt is no big problem (one out of three right […]
This post is related to the debate about fiscal policy and medium run growth which has become entangled with the Sanders or Clinton debate (which I will attempt to avoid). Some extremely Keynesian economists (DeLong, Pro Growth Liberal,, Menzie Chin, Paul Krugman, and (warning pdf) C and D Romer have expressed skepticism about the possibility […]
The US suicide rate has increased dramatically (via Kevin Drum whose commentary is excellent as usual) I have two thoughts about possible causes One hand gun ownership. I know the rate of gun ownership has declined (always explained by the alleged decline in hunting). It is rare for people to kill themselves with rifles. I […]
I recently asked if increased government debt causes increased welfare if the growth rate of the economy is greater than the safe rate of interest, even if the growth rate is lower than the risky rate of return on capital. With much help from a comment by Nick Rowe, I present an example in which […]
Still looking for a case in which I disagree with Paul Krugman, I jump in the deep end and discuss his thoughts on international trade in “The Return of Elasticity Pessimism (Wonkish)”. That is “the belief that trade flows barely respond to price signals, and hence that devaluations don’t help alleviate imbalances.” It is amazing […]
I have long been embarrassed by the fact that I almost always agree with Paul Krugman — I fear that I am not an independent thinker. I eagerly look for chances to disagree and see two promising possibilities at his blog. He has a negative view of Bernie Sanders “Why I Haven’t Felt the Bern […]
Obviously, he would propose cutting his taxes if he were elected. Also there would be a Republican majority so they would be cut. But why did his campaign announce a huge tax cut proposal ? Trump is trying to present himself as a populist. The utter absurdity of this effort is at least doubled by […]
I have been promising to write something constructive and forward looking about how to undo the damaging effects of the 1996 welfare reform (which recently struck again). I don’t really have anything original to say. Mainly I endorse the proposal made by Irwin Garfinkel, David Harris, Jane Waldfogel and Christopher Wimer in a Century Foundation […]