I just searched Harvard, U Chicago, and a few other top econ departments’ course offerings and major requirements. The string “account” barely appears. Chicago says quite explicitly: Courses such as accounting, investments, and entrepreneurship will not be considered for economics elective credit. Much less requirements! No wonder so many economists: • Have such profound misunderstandings […]

There’s been a running discussion of this on various blogs (sorry if I missed linking some!), inflated simultaneously by Krugman and by magisterial and mysterious commenter JKH’s “paradigm riff,” here. That discussion has brought me to the following conclusions. Assuming you have a coherent and accurately representative System of National Accounts*: • Accounting, and accounting […]

Why have I never posted about Yasha Levine over at The Exiled? They’re the ones that first broke this story about Koch luring Hayek to America with Social Security, and I make a point to put down my coffee when reading Yasha, to avoid expensive and embarrassing spit-takes.Just a week ago he gave us this: […]

by Jon Hammond at Econographia Guest post:  The Obama Record after 3 years – Jobs and GDP The performance of the economy over President Obama’s tenure to date has been much discussed in light of the severe contraction that began in December 2007 .. and the policies implemented to correct course and restore growth. As […]

by Linda Beale Kooky Tax Protestors! Anybody who has read much of my blog probably has realized that I don’t think much of “tax protestor” movements like the one Wesley Snipe got involved with. There are websites and books and information available in all kinds of places about these “tax protestor” arguments. They claim that […]

by Dale Coberly SOCIAL SECURITY More How They Lie To Us David Brooks says in a column headlined  Where Are the Liberals? Americans don’t hate government, but “believe the government has been captured by rent-seekers.” This is the disease that corrodes government at all times and in all places. As George F. Will wrote in […]

Part I showed the money going to corporate profits, not to the salaries of working people.  Part II showed that the finance sector has captured an increasing slice of the profit pie.  Here is a different look at where the money hasn’t gone. The first graph shows Real GDP/capita and Real Disposable Income/Cap since 1950 […]

Freddster (noun): Fraudster who profits from conflict of interest at Freddie Mac (the knife). Jesse Eisinger, pf ProPublica and Chris Arnold, of the public sector NPR News have the most interesting article about ruthless greedy uh socialism I guess at public sector Freddie Mac. The idea is that Freddie Went long the interest payments on […]

Nick Rowe replies to Richard Williamson re: full-reserve banking (emphasis mine): The key reading here (even though it appears to be about a different subject) is Milton Friedman’s “The optimum quantity of money”.Foregone nominal interest payments is a tax on holding currency…. 100% required reserves mean you impose the same tax on chequing accounts … […]

Richard Williamson asks a sensible and straightforward question: If, as Modern Monetary Theorists propose, banks’ reserve levels put no significant constraints on their lending, why don’t we have 100%-reserve banking — and presumably no runs on banks as a result?First an explanation — I hope simple, clear, and generally accurate (if simplified): Say you start […]