Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Nick and Joe are doing their best to beat back Milton Friedman et al

Nick Hanauer, Joseph Sitglitz videos. This is the latest presentation Nick Hanauer has made regarding the upside downness of our economy and the backward, selfish thinking that has gotten us here. In this one he is talking to his “plutocrat” friends: We plutocrats need to see that the United States of America made us not […]

Darwin Wept: Pyramid Schemes, Collusion, and Price-Fixing, the Modern American Way

The story hardly bears repeating: Pricing is the ultimate miracle of Darwinian markets. Competitors who produce goods at lower prices thrive, expand their operations, and produce more. Those who charge higher prices (for equivalent goods) are driven to extinction when sensible purchasers abandon them for their more-efficient competitors. This inexorable mechanism drives innovation, investment, and productivity, […]

Do economic crises reflect crises in economics?

Dan here…Worth reading the whole 12 pages.   (Hat tip New Deal democrat) Do economic crises reflect crises in economics? Keynote address, ‘Rethinking Economics’ conference, Stiftverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft/Handelsblatt, Frankfurt am Main, 23 January 2012. Diane Coyle, Enlightenment Economics and Institute of Political and Economic Governance, University of Manchester   The ‘series of unfortunate […]

Is Real GDP at Potential?

I will present a way to determine potential real GDP using a regression of past data. First take the official CBO potential and subtract it from real GDP. When the red line is above zero (0), real GDP is over potential. Normally the red line rises above potential before a recession. So it looks as […]

Northwest Plan for Social Security: Conservative “Workers – Take Your Medicine”-ism (and why this Social Democrat likes it)

Long time readers of Angry Bear will be familiar with the Northwest Plan for a Real Social Security Fix. It has been pushed here in a series of posts and in innumerable comments (mostly by Dale Coberly) since 2009 including this core post: NW Plan for a Real Social Security Fix Ver 2.0: 2009 Trigger. […]

National Debt: Since When is the Fed “The Public”?

This issue has been driving me crazy for a while, and I never see it written about. When responsible people talk about the national debt, they point to Debt Held by the Public: what the federal government owes to non-government entities — households, firms, and foreign entities. (Irresponsible people talk about Gross Public Debt — […]

Why you should be afraid: the next recession is likely to include wage deflation

by New Deal democrat Why you should be afraid: the next recession is likely to include wage deflation Beginning 3 years ago, I identified poor wage growth  as the shortfall in the economy that worries me the most. And it still worries me, even though there has been some modest improvement. Why? Because unless there […]

A thought on GE’s opting out of the Finance Business

Paul Krugman writes about GE’s announcement to get out of the finance business. Why are they getting out? Financial reform from the Dodd-Frank legislation that includes “greater oversight, higher capital and liquidity requirements, etc.” Paul Krugman says… “And sure enough, what GE is in effect saying is that if we have to compete on a […]