Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

The politics of vaccine-stretching

When the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were first approved, it was clear that they were highly effective at preventing covid and that they would be in short supply for months.  The clinical trial data also suggested that, at least in the short-run, one dose of the vaccines would provide almost as much protection against covid […]

Trade Incentives and Whoppers: A Finger Exercise

Nick Rowe was looking for the role of money in the Heuristic Macro Model, which is often used to introduce students to Trade economics. The problem he discovered is that there is only a role for money if there is friction in the model, and therefore a two-household (or household-firm or firm-firm) model makes money […]

Economic writing after my own heart

I have just learned of a new book that I believe every AB reader could relate to. DON’T BUY IT: The Trouble with Talking Nonsense about the Economy by: ANAT SHENKER-OSORIO An excerpt from the book summary: This concise, entertaining book shows us how wrong-headed metaphors and deceptive language have muddled our economic thinking, and […]

Trade and Development

Trade and Development Run 75411 picked up this recent report over at Economists View where someone (Goldilocksisableachblond?) pointed to a recent UN report TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT, 2012 Run says: There are some interesting comments within the Overview to the much longer report, which I found germaine to what is happening in the US and […]

The Brute Economics of Slavery

Preramble: I posted this on my blog exactly a year ago today, in slightly different form.  Dan linked to it once, from here, just a few weeks before I started writing for Angry Bear.  Recent comments got me thinking about it again.   In thinking about the economics of slavery, I’m considering slavery and serfdom to […]

The 2012 Version of a Very Old Joke

With apologies to Stan Collender’s Beautiful and Talented Wife (not to mention mine): James had gathered a mix of friends, acquaintances, and random strangers at his Rent Party, but no one was talking to anyone else. So he decided to get people to talk to each other, using the easiest non-visible variable available: “Don, what’s […]

Wealth vs Income

Usually my articles present facts and data and try to drive down to a conclusion. This time, I’m going to drive down to a couple of questions. Recently, Noah Smith had a post on the subject of economic models titled Filling a hole or priming the pump?  It did quite a bit to restore my […]

OWS and economics

Nancy Folbre is an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her post in the NYT Economix begins: The Occupy Wall Street movement, displaced from some key geographic locations, now enjoys a small but significant encampment among economists. Concerns about the impact of growing economic inequality fit neatly into a larger critique of mainstream […]