Category Archives: The dismal science

America’s Chilling Experiment in Human Sacrifice

The US is willing to practice human sacrifice, rather than explore a way of defining wealth outlined by 19th-century thinker John Ruskin.

Waiting for “Rooseveltian Relief”: An Oversimplified Framework for the Employment Situation

“Nothing fundamental will change.” –Joe Biden

Don’t Do It Again! The Swedish Experience With Negative Central Bank Rates in 2015-2019

Why negative interest rates were a bust.

Is There Deflation or Inflation in Our Future?

We don’t have a recovery in sight, but some economists are already worried about inflation.

Become a Manufacturing Powerhouse in 2020—An Economic Recipe for Our Times

On bringing manufacturing back home.

The Coming Battle for the COVID-19 Narrative

Will the disruption of Covid-19 deal a major blow to market ideology?

The Use and Abuse of MMT

Using government spending power to bail out financiers and rentiers makes a travesty of MMT.

Martin Wolf and Wishful Thinking on Ending Coronavirus Lockdowns

It would be nice to go back to something like the old normal. But the coronavirus is still very much in charge.

Radical Imagination: Imagining How the World of Finance Really Works

Michael Hudson rings the changes on some of his favorite themes: the logic of ancient debt jubilees. and the role of finance in contemporary rent extraction.

Tax Justice and Modern Monetary Theory – A Guide

Does Modern Monetary Theory take tax justice for granted?

Covid-19 Hits the Dual Economy: Incomes Destroyed at the Bottom, Profits Supported at the Top

Why preserving (big) corporate profits will not bail out the economy.

Debt and Financial Crises: Will History Repeat Itself?

Unhappy families may all be different, but financial crises are pretty much the same, rooted in debt overhangs, and one has been brewing.

Social Insurance in a Time of Pandemic: A Proposal for the Government to Act as Buyer of Last Resort

It’s not hard operationally for the government to counter economic fallout from the pandemic. The hard part is ideological baggage.