Category Archives: Macroeconomic policy

UNCTAD’s Richard Kozul-Wright on the Post-COVID World Economy: Out of the Frying Pan… Into the Fire?

Kozul-Wright warns that for a sustainable Covid-19 recovery, it is key to abandon policies that concentrate economic power and wealth

Why the Government Bonds Owned by the Bank of England Are Not a Debt Burden, Even When They’re Repaid

A short discussion of government bonds and what happens when a central bank holds them.

Preparing for a Wave of Non-Performing Loans: Are Banks at Risk?

On a aggregate basis, EU banks appear to have enough capital to weather even a bad Covid storm. A country-by-country look tells another story.

We May Be Living in a Moment of Misplaced Optimism

The current bout of optimism looks too close to giddy for my comfort. And yours?

Scoring the $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan and Earlier Covid Relief Programs

How to do a better job of getting relief to those who need it.

Michael Hudson and Paul Craig Roberts: It Is Time To Remove The Debt Barrier To Economic Growth

Why it’s time for a widespread debt writedown.

New York City Lost a Record 631,000 Jobs to the Pandemic in 2020. So What’s Next?

A look at the raw numbers behind the pain of New York City’s biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

New Zealand’s Feeble Attempt to Curb Sky-High Housing Prices

New Zealand, awfully late in the game, is trying to Do Something about insane housing prices.

Nomi Prins: To Build or Not to Build? The Infrastructure Question

For all sorts of bad reasons, American has a huge infrastructure spending backlog. But can we even do the job well?

DSGE, the Standard Economic Paradigm, is Based on Bad Modeling

Why the New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) is a straightjacket for macroeconomics.

Pointless Pain Is What We’re Enduring. And All for the Sake of Accepting That Money is Not a Constraint on Our Potential, and Never Will Be

Defitic hysteria, UK style, and why misunderstanding what government money is about persists.

Bad Stimulus: Government Payments to Individuals Are a Terrible Way to Solve America’s Structural Economic Problems

Why the Biden stimulus program is fundamentally wrongheaded.

A Big Fiscal Push is Urgent, The Risk of Overheating Is Small

The $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus should be large because the need is large.

“I’m Sorry,” Says Ro Khanna, “An Unelected Parliamentarian Does Not Get to Deprive 32 Million Americans the Wage Raise They Deserve.”

The Biden Administration proves it cares only about the donor classes by standing pat as its own $15 minimum wage proposal founders.