Category Archives: The dismal science

Matthew Cunningham-Cook: Five Reasons Tariffs Are Great

Saying tariffs could be a good thing is close to a taboo in economics. Is that distaste justified?

Debunking the Magnitude of Markets: A Holiday Story

Why markets, the god of neoliberalism, are not what they are cracked up to be.

The Sneaky Way Austerity Got Sold to the Public Like Snake Oil

How a budget approach cloaked in the aura of science and technical jargon became a tool for promoting austerity.

Randy Wray: Debt-Free Money and Banana Republics, Part II

More discussion of the problems with the “debt-free money” construct, to the extent that it can even be called a construct.

Capitalism – Not China – Is to Blame for the Current Global Economic Decline

Capitalism’s “recovery” now proceeds like another speeding train headed toward contradiction and catastrophe.

The Scientific Limits of Understanding Complex Social Phenomena

Economists, for the most part, resist the idea that economics can never be a scientific enterprise. Sadly, that posture has proven profitable for them.

The Puzzle of Technical Dis-Employment and Productivity Slowdown

How can recent technical change could both be a major source of dis-employment and not be associated with productivity improvement?

The Importance of Wealth Concentration and Why It is So Difficult to Measure

As bad as available data says wealth concentration is, it is probably even worse.

Connecting American Foreign Policy to Economic Policy

Can American foreign policy be made to work better for US citizens (outside the arms industry) and the rest of the world?

Present Day Benefits of Climate Policy

Poor framing of climate change and climate policy issues are making costs appear much higher than they are and are thus deterring action.

New Studies: Do ‘Competitive’ Corporate Tax Cuts Boost Growth?

A new study devastates the widely-touted claim that corporate tax cuts promote growth.

“Failed: What the ‘Experts’ Got Wrong about the Global Economy”

An excerpt from CEPR co-director Mark Weisbrot’s important new book, Failed.

Harvard Professor Josh Lerner Gave Weak and Internally Contradictory Plug for Private Equity at CalPERS Workshop

Harvard’s Professor Josh Lerner gave CalPERS what was presumably a pep talk for investing in private equity that was so contradictory as to amount to a case against it.