Category Archives: The dismal science

Is Industrial Policy Finally Legitimate?

Awfully late in the game, industrial policy gets the recognition it deserves.

The Myth of Expansionary Austerity

If you hold mainstream economic views, it was too good to be true: Another effort to vindicate austerity falls victim to flawed methodology.

Michael Hudson Discusses the IMF and World Bank: Partners In Backwardness

Michael Hudson explains how the IMF and World Bank support US hegemony.

Takers and Makers: Who Are the Real Value Creators?

Why stories from “value creators” should be taken with a fistful of salt.

Rebel Economist Breaks Through to Washington on How Shareholder Value Theory Rewards the Undeserving

How William Lazonick persuaded pols and pundits that the shareholder value theory was bad for business and society.

Are Economists Blocking Progress on Climate Change?

As they so often do, by promoting unrealisitc models, economists have become part of problem rather than the solution.

Economic Growth: A Short History of a Controversial Idea

Environmentalists and even some economists question the relentless pursuit of GDP growth. But where did the idea come from?

Conservative Economists Embrace Adam Smith as a Hero — But Many Scholars Say His Legacy Has Been Distorted

In popular imagination, Smith’s invisible hand has become so strongly associated with Friedman’s openly conservative economic agenda that people often take for granted that is what Smith meant.

Eight Reasons Why Inequality Ruins the Economy

Econimists have noticed, awfully late in the game, that high levels of inequality are correlated with lower growth. There are reasons to think this relationship is causal.

Richard Murphy: For MMT (Long and Wonkish)

MMT opponents try presenting their objections as technical, but they really are political.

Does Japan Do MMT?

In case you had any doubts, Japan is not following MMT economic policy prescriptions.

The Intergenerational Effects of a Large Wealth Shock: Evidence from the US Civil War

The US Civil War did not do lasting damage to the economic position of wealthy slaveholding famiies.

Is Conservatism Running on Brand Fumes?

Why the foundations of conservatism are crumbling.

Why Martin Wolf Is Wrong on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)

A shame that someone like Martin Wolf does get the core idea of MMT but still really can’t or won’t accept its implications.