TODAY'S recommended economics writing:
• Scott Sumner writes:
[T]he Fed has to ask itself these questions:
a. Do we want a higher [...]
TODAY'S recommended economics writing:
• Scott Sumner writes:
[T]he Fed has to ask itself these questions:
a. Do we want a higher [...]
To be filed under the "It's About Time" department:
Those who follow the Mises Economics Blog via RSS feed reader may be pleased to learn that they now have the option to follow comments for a specific blog post via their feed reader. Next to the comment count at the [...]
Let me state this one more time with feeling -- while there may be macroeconomic problems, there are only microeconomic explanations and solutions. Aggregate variables do not interact with one another independent of the choices of individuals. And those choices are guided by the incentives actors face, and the [...]
1) Menzie Chinn: Teaching Macro, after the Great Recession:
The last time I taught this course in the Spring of 2007, the key topics were inflation, the possibility of stagflation, and the possibility of containing the ongoing housing slowdown.... [This] semester... [the] two big concerns were (1) dealing [...]
TODAY'S recommended economics writing:
• Two interesting takes on Chinese currency policy: Helmut Reisen argues that revaluation of the renminbi would [...]
In a typical Principles of Economics text, the factors of demand that are included in the introductory chapter on Demand and Supply are price, consumer preferences, the number of consumers, prices of related goods (complements and substitutes), average consumer income, price expectations, and miscellaneous factors. Chalk this up as [...]
David A. Rosenberg is Chief Economist & Strategist at Gluskin Sheff, with a focus on providing a top-down perspective to the Firm’s investment process. Mr. Rosenberg has earned both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Economics from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining Gluskin Sheff, [...]
Sudeep Reddy:
Sen. Vitter Presents End-of-Term Exam For Bernanke: Earlier this month, Real Time Economics presented questions from several economists for the confirmation hearing of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Many of the questions were addressed at the hearing, though not always directly. Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) submitted [...]
Public broadcasting has a new mission: Proving it can make even dry, boring old economics into something the masses will embrace. This latest example offers a little bit of everything: Keynes, Hayek, rap music, hosts wildly flapping their arms ... it's a doozy. Hey dude, where's my full-employment equilibrium?
It was Austrian economics and its proponents who raised eyebrows when they first explored the writings of what is here referred to as "standard Law & Economics," i.e., mainly the thought of Judge Richard Posner. FULL ARTICLE by Martin Fronek
| [...]1) Matthew Yglesias: All Hail Bernanke!:
Time giving Ben Bernanke its Person of the Year honors seems to me to say a lot about where we are as a society. Bernanke... follows basically conventional thinking and doesn’t make any unusual errors. Unfortunately, conventional thinking and normal errors lead [...]
Or, How to adapt the intermediate macro syllabus to an altered world
This semester is the first time I've taught intermediate macroeconomics link in over two years. The last time I taught this course in the Spring of 2007, the key topics were inflation, the possibility of stagflation, and' [...]
1) Paul Krugman: Would cutting the minimum wage raise employment?:
Serious People (and Fox News) are rallying around the idea that if Obama really wants to create jobs, he should cut the minimum wage.... [R]educing wages would at best do nothing for employment; more likely it would actually [...]
Sometimes my brain can't concentrate on any one topic long enough to write a serious post. Or maybe I just don't know enough to give a good answer to some question I want to answer. So here is a random collection of thoughts:
1. What would macroeconomics be like now if [...]
TODAY'S recommended economics writing:
• Do have a look at this interview with Yegor Gaidar from The Economist's archive. It's a [...]
Multiple choice question, with follow-up:
In Human Action, Ludwig von Mises describes "praxeology" as:
A. a theory of human action
B. a science of human action
C. a branch of knowledge
D. A and B
E. B and C
F. A and C
G. A, B, and C
If you answered A, B, or C defend that interpretation [...]
Carlo Cottarelli:
Climate Change—Some Simple (and Quite Convenient) Truths: As world leaders gather in Copenhagen, climate change is again in the headlines. The science of the issue can get pretty incomprehensible pretty quickly. And the politics are clearly very ugly. Let’s not forget, however, that much of the economics [...]
"We Need a Housing Bubble" Krugman got a Nobel in Economics. "Let's Ramp Up a Murderous, Useless War" Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize. So what do we give Helicopter Ben Bernanke, who has squandered much of whatever capital we had left after the housing bubble burst by pushing [...]
Antonio Fatas: Using a hammer or a wrench to pop asset price bubbles?: I am very sympathetic to this argument: [the] interest rate is probably not the right tool to deal with asset price bubbles and using regulation or a 'macroprudential instrument' is the right thing to do. However, [...]
Abstract: The provision point mechanism mitigates free-riding behavior in economic experiments. In two contingent valuation method surveys, we implement the provision point design. [...]
TODAY'S recommended economics writing:
• Via Mark Thoma, two pieces on the financing of climate change policy solutions. (Robert [...]
