Category Archives: The dismal science

Most Long-Term Growth Forecasts by Economics Researchers Biased Upwards

Forecasts tend to be biased upwards and involve significant uncertainty, even for economics researchers specialising in macroeconomics or economic growth.

Sanders Called JPMorgan’s CEO America’s ‘Biggest Corporate Socialist’ – Here’s Why He Has a Point

As Sanders becomes a formidable 2020 contender, demonizing socialism is back in style.

Rentier Capitalism: Great for Stocks, Lousy for Growth

An oddly neglected paper gives an idea of how much rentier capitalism has distorted the US economy.

Secular Stagnation: Demand Is Indeed the Culprit

Economists’ bad medicine is a significant factor in our present stagnation.

Michael Hudson on the History of Debt Cancellation, Austerity in Europe, January 2020

Michael Husdon reviews the key themes of his recent book, ……and Forgive Them Their Debts, and discusses German austerity.

How CEOs, Experts and Philosophers See the World’s Biggest Risks Differently

Trying to understand CEOs’ blinkered view of risks.

STATEMENT: House Budget Committee, “Reexamining the economic costs of debt”, Nov 20, 2019

It is hard to imagine a scenario in which rising deficits and the debt ratio will create a financial crisis, lead to government insolvency, generate high inflation, or trigger an attack by bond vigilantes.

Precarity: A Political Problem

‘Free market’ advocates claim that the rise of precarity was inevitable, as opposed to the result of political decisions.

The Lords and Ladies of Discipline: An Interview with Matt Stoller

Matt Stoller explains how economics reinforces established power relations.

AI and the Productivity Paradox

AI has not delivered expected productivity gains. Some thoughts as to why.

Productivity Does Not Explain Wages

As long as we believe the neoclassical productivity farce, we will know nothing about what causes prices.

After the Argentina Debacle, the IMF Endorses Weakening Capital Controls in Ecuador

The IMF is backing a tax reform bill in Ecuador that will enable capital flight and further austerity.

Sweden Retreats from Negative Interest Rate Experiment

Sweden throws in the towel on its negative interest rate policy as inflation stays stubbornly low.

Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Ruling that George Mason University Foundation Is Not Subject to State FOIA Statute, Leaving Koch Funding Details Undisclosed

Virginia Supreme Court allows Koch influence to remain undisclosed; the decision has yet to attract much media attention.