by Joseph Joyce Greek Tale(s) No matter what new twist the Greek debt crisis takes, there can be no question that it has been a catastrophe for that country and for the entire Eurozone. The Greek economy contracted by over a quarter during the period of 2007 to 2013, the largest decline of any advanced […]
In his dissent to Edwards v. Aguillard, Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia made a neat distinction, sidestepping the issue of “legislative intent” that he finds so troubling: it is possible to discern the objective “purpose” of a statute (i. e., the public good at which its provisions appear to be directed), (The dissent is obsessed with […]
Via @mattyglesias I learn that David Scutt just reported that “Japan just blew past forecasts for unemployment and household spending” The unemployment rate is 3.3% and there are more vacant jobs than unemployed workers. Overall, Abenomics has worked very well indeed. I feel obliged to discuss this, because I was an extreme skeptic. More exactly, […]
Just want to let everyone know that the Fast Track bill just passed the house. The vote was 218 to 208 with 28 Dem’s voting for it. Imagine that. no provision for workers harmed by this and it passes. From the article here is Ryan’s take: “It gives America credibility,” Ryan said of TPA. “And […]
Got you to look. I am using 18th century English, the title translates into 21st century English as “Paul Krugman’s Argument is clarified when the fact that it is precise is revealed” Krugman objects to Stephen Schwarzman’s use of the word “liquidity” which, he claims, conflates two different meanings. I think the word should be […]
While receiving subsidies is nothing new for the Forbes 400 or even multi-hundred millionaire pikers like Mitt Romney, a recent story in the Los Angeles Times (via Good Jobs First) shows that Elon Musk (#34 in the Forbes 400) is a champion at getting subsidies for his companies. According to the Times article, Musk’s three […]
Again Krugman writes about something I know something about. This time I enthusiastically agree (yeah I know big surprise there). he noted that, in efficiency wage models, it can be relatively easy to convince firms to raise wages. His presentation is (as usual) extremely, brief, clear, unwonkish and excellent. Then he linked to Arindrajit Dube […]
Paul Krugman is skeptical about the alleged negative effect of inequality on growth there have been a number of studies that seem to find a negative relationship, all based on some kind of international cross-section approach (some with time-series aspects too). So what is my problem? In general, I have doubts about the whole growth […]
This extraordinarily long and confused post is my response to Brad DeLong’s New Economic Thinking, Hicks-Hansen-Wicksell Macro, and Blocking the Back Propagation Induction-Unraveling from the Long Run Omega Point: The Honest Broker for the Week of May 31, 2015 Before the jump, I make only three brief points. 1) The phrase “the Long Run Omega […]
The basic reason is simple: it undercuts the broader progressive agenda. Also it buys into a particular Right economic meme. Both are huge mistakes. To understand this we need to step back and examine overall tax policy and tax progressivity. What should progressives want? Well I suggest that as a first step we restore top […]