by New Deal democrat Why hasn’t increased household formation led to increased housing construction? Tim Taylor has an interesting article about “What was different about housing this time?” Specifically, why has housing in both building terms and as a share of GDP risen so slowly since 2009. To cut to the chase, he writes that […]
by New Deal democrat Aside from a shortage in starter housing for Millennials,there is NO inflation Yesterday’s CPI report seems to be read as potentially justifying an interest rate increase in June. For example, here’s Professor Tim Duy, on Fed hawks: Inflation rose on the back of higher gas prices. Headline CPI gained 0.4 percent, […]
I apologize for actual discussing economics and health care today, but this one I couldn’t let lie. The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business’s IGM Forum Mark Thoma) reports; you decide. If reducing the value of the policies held by those who are continuously employed, either by taxing them or forcing those people to […]
In the study of economics, one learns the circular flow of the economy between firms and households. This post however presents another circular flow model based on capital and labor. (It is a closed economy with no government for simplification.) There are 4 pools within this circular flow related to the income and utilization of […]
by Joseph Joyce The Role of the U.S. in the Global Financial System The mandate of the Federal Reserve is clear: “…promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates.” How to achieve those goals, of course, has been the subject of great debate: should the central bank use interest […]
Which appears to be taking ethnic looking civilians off their flights. Perhaps economists should not do their modeling on American Airline flights or for that matter other airlines. It seems one 40-year-old man with curly dark hair and olive skin coloring was quietly sitting in his seat scribbling calculations on a notepad. His seatmate on […]
by Linda Beale Defending the IRS Against Right-Wing Attacks The IRS is a government agency that endures all kinds of hostile attacks. Most people don’t really like to pay taxes. Even I don’t really “like” paying taxes, though I do recognize the importance of paying taxes and supporting the societal infrastructure that pays for the […]
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism has just pointed to The unfairness of housing purchases through time. New Deal democrat and Barkley Rosser (at Econospeak) have pointed to problems with rental prices. NDd continues with this post, also pointing to Bill McBride at Calculated Risk… by New Deal democrat Rents are going through the roof! Rent […]
by New Deal democrat Would the real “real median household income” please stand up? Real median household income is among the most important measures of economic well-being. So why do three surveys compiled from 3 different sources give 3 very different results? Let me point out initially what real median household income is NOT. It […]
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 […]