Come on, guys, somebody take it to the Next Step. Matt Y comes closer than anyone else to getting to the truth of the problem with Macroeconomics. Following Justin FoxSteven Levitt’s summary, Matt asks the next question: So why should it be that “in the current regime, if [macro models] are not meticulously constructed from […]

There is a brilliant moment in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Giles explains to Willow that his problem with computers is “their smell.” She replies, roughly, “But they have no smell.” “Exactly. And smell is one of the most important senses there is.” Apparently, with a hat tip to The New […]

BY SPENCER The employment report appears to report that the rate of job loss is moderating and provides encouraging evidence that the economy probably is not falling as rapidly as it has been. But the evidence is not that clear cut. Payroll employment reported a 345,000 drop in employment, a significantly smaller loss than in […]

by cactus Following up my post earlier this week on abortion, I was thinking about some of the comments left by readers and I decided to follow a simple thought experiment. I was thinking about what happens when parents split up and one gets custody of the kids – usually the other is required to […]

“100 Tanks Along the Square, One Man Stands and Stops Them There” Update: Rdan here…an update from The Economist

Robert Waldmann So, in the end, it turns out that the FDIC trust fund will not be raided in order to bail out banks by buying overpriced legacy loans. The FDIC retained control, and has no inclination to blow its trust fund, that is, it refused to make no recourse loans to make it possible […]

rdan To begin the conversation now over the next few years. What do we stand for? What is our story? A great start. Update: h/t MG for the transcript of the speech.

By Spencer. We are getting an interesting debate between different economic bloggers today and I thought I would put in my two cents worth. Casey Mulligan at economix began it with an argument that the current recession is not as severe as the 1981-82 recession because that recession was really two recessions and if you […]

Robert Waldmann lifted from Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts From Scotusblog via Hilzoy. In Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143 (2002), [judge Sotomayor] dissented from the majority’s holding that the NYPD could fire a white employee for distributing racist materials. OK so the reverse racist Latina wasn’t quite so intollerant of white racism as the majority of […]