These tables from CBO show the actual breakout by category of both spending and tax cuts in HR.1 the House version of the Stimulus Bill as introduced (some things were stripped out for passage). I’d like to invite everyone to compile their own list of what they consider to be pork or mistimed (i.e. too […]

Robert Waldmann Following a link e-mailed by Ken Houghton I read this at “the Ambrosini critique” (thanks Ken) I read The need for more math is also related to the increase in the empirical relevance of theory. I’m convinced the only standing legacy of the Real Business Cycle literature, besides method, is its insistence on […]

Tom (STR) has another post at Health Care Think Tank Senator Daschle wants to build on the current private system, but also expand the scope and reach of federal government programs. The Federal Health Board, modeled after the Federal Reserve Board, would initially be directed at the federal government programs, but Daschle makes it clear […]

lifted from Calculated Risk From the International Air Transport Association: Cargo Plummets 22.6% in December (hat tip Bob_in_MA) In the month of December global international cargo traffic plummeted by 22.6% compared to December 2007. The same comparison for international passenger traffic showed a 4.6% drop. The international load factor stood at 73.8%. For the full-year […]

rdan Naked Capitalism also points to the underlying inattention to US trade policy and our financial wizards. Last night, we reported that the International Institute of Finance was calling for a global GDP contraction for 2009. The IMF today, while not going as far as the IIF, got about as downbeat as one could expect […]

reader Jimi sends a link to a NYT article in 1988 on the economist schism mentioned in 2009 NYT article.

Robert Waldmann Mark Thoma has a long post on the end of the Fresh Water Salt Water truce. He quotes at length from Olivier Blanchard’s declaration of peace in our time. In particular from Blanchard the old fresh water/salt water distinction has become largely irrelevant: While research on the topic started with new-Keynesians, recent research […]

rdan A background for the non economists concerning freshwater and saltwater economists harks back to 1976 when Robert Hall christened the central schism in macroeconomic thought as being between the freshwater and saltwater schools. The division was picked by their location (on the Great Lakes and Rivers versus the coastal schools). The division exists today […]

by reader Noni Mausa The ‘illions, by volume, area and time If a millionWas a walnut A billionWould be three ice cream pails A trillionWould be my spare bedroom====If a millionCould be covered by a man’s handkerchief A billionCould be covered by a 1500 square foot bungalow A trillionWould be 25 acres – 33 football […]

Arnold Kling doesn’t support the stimulus, but he doesn’t agree with fresh water critics either. He refers to Mankiw’s classification of macroeconomists as “scientists” and “engineers” then writes Because the data are not powerful enough to reject any hypothesis against an interesting alternative, the macroeconomic “scientists” divorced themselves from the “engineers,” who continued to use […]