The Abandonment of Countercyclical Fiscal Policy
Economists bemoan the lack of aggressive fiscal spending after the crisis. Funny how few of them were willing to advocate it when it mattered.
Read more...Category Archives: The dismal science
Investment Case Study: Some Oxford Dons Take Skeptical Look at Yale and Canadian Investment Fads, Um, Models
Believe it or not, a case study on major approaches to investing that is both informative and fun to read.
Read more...Michael Pettis: China – How Much Investment is Optimal?
If China’s very low level of social capital has long ago made its investment strategy obsolete, that suggests that China has overinvested beyond its capacity to utilize these investments economically. Thus there are hidden losses on bank balance sheets created by the failure to write down physical capital to its true value. In this case Chinese growth cannot help but drop significantly as these losses are finally recognized and as investment levels are sharply curtailed.
Read more...Hoisted From Comments: Neoliberalism Tearing Societies Apart
The true destructiveness of neoliberalism is becoming more and more apparent.
Read more...New IMF Paper Challenges Neoliberal Orthodoxy
A new IMF paper takes on some neoliberal sacred cows.
Read more...Philip Mirowski: This is Water, or Is It the Neoliberal Thought Collective?
The history, internal contradictions, and frequent mischaracterization of the nature and operation of neoliberal ideology.
Read more...Free Trade in Rhetoric, Not in Practice
The gap between the posturing and practice of free trade.
Read more...Helicopter Money: The Illusion of a Free Lunch
Does helicopter money come with a hidden price tag?
Read more...Neoliberalism’s Press Gangs: How Markets Raise Costs
Neliberalim’s press gangs – forcing citizens to participate in capitalism when even it produces worse outcomes than public ownership would.
Read more...Inflation Targeting and Neoliberalism, Part 3
Yves here. In a bit of synchronicity, this post continues the theme of Dipherio’s podcast over the weekend on NAIRU, describing how other central banks around the world look at the issue of what inflation rate to try to achieve and why. I’m a little surprised that Epstein did not mention how the Fed kept […]
Read more...How the “Maximize Shareholder Value” Myth Weakens Companies and Economic Systems
A multi-level, biological perspective on business shows how simple-minded ideas like “maximize shareholder value” and tolerating predators aredestructive.
Read more...Economics for the Rest of Us Explains NAIRU, Including Its Political Implications
An explanation of NAIRU for novices, as well as a discussion of its politics.
Read more...Gerald Friedman: How the Dogmatic Despair of Mainstream Economists Brought You Donald Trump
Mainstream economists to ordinary citizens: Drop dead. Or more accurately: Sorry, nothing more can be done for you. There is No Alternative.
Read more...Cameron Murray: Confused Thinking About Real Interest Rates Leads to Mistaken Belief that Lower Interest Rates Boost Investment
Muddied thinking about real interest rates has done real harm. It leads policymakers to lower interest rates to boost investment, when they do more to raise asset prices and fuel speculation.
Read more...Bill Black: Mankiw’s Mythical Ten Commandments of Theoclassical Economics
Examining Maniw’s core myths, um, principles, and how they are dangerously misleading.
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