Re-thinking macro policy: Joseph Stiglits, Davis Romer, Oliver Blanchard at  Columbia University, New York, and co-host of the Conference on Rethinking Macro Policy II: First Steps and Early Lessons. The Lessons of the North Atlantic Crisis for Economic Theory and Policy Posted on May 3, 2013 by iMFdirect   http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/ post by: Joseph E. Stiglitz In analyzing […]

At risk of stating the obvious, in this post I’d like to highlight a pernicious misunderstanding that I find to be widespread out there in the world. This is not new thinking. You’ll find a more sophisticated historical account, stated very clearly though in somewhat different terms, in the first few pages of this PDF. Still, […]

If you use the read more in the original employment report post you can see the full report with charts. Spencer

By recent norms this was an unusual employment report in that the data worked the way we would like to see. In the household survey the unemployment rate fell to 7.5% because the labor force rose by 210,000 while employment increased a larger 293,00 so the number of unemployed fell by -83,000.

by Robert Waldmann An important study of the effect of Medicaid on health was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The study was based on a genuine experiment where some people were given Medicaid and other people weren’t based on a lottery.  Unfortunately, the results were communicated with a NEJM  press release and […]

Last year I had solar panels installed on my roof under a deal where I pay nothing up front for the installation and pay the solar company for the power I produce at a rate about 75% of  what I pay the electric utility. I’m so thankful that I got professional help from this energy […]

Great presidents rise above circumstance. Not Obama, at least not yet. At a news conference Tuesday marking the 100th day of his second and final term, the president seemed unwilling or unable to overcome stubborn GOP opposition. — Ron Fournier, National Journal, yesterday (h/t Jonathan Chait, New York magazine, today) Fournier’s right, of course. About […]

An old friend dropped by recently and we had a few beers on the back deck. He runs his family’s commercial real-estate business; they own and operate half a dozen or so pretty large properties (and just bought another) — a mall, office buildings, mixed use. I was really curious to talk to him about […]

This if nifty, from The Wall Street Journal: Hat tip Barry Ritholtz. Cross-posted at Asymptosis.