Randy Wray: MMT and External Constraints
To fix or to float, that is the question.
Read more...Category Archives: The dismal science
Wage Shares Fall in the US, Germany and Many Other Countries While Financial Shocks Hit Emerging Economies
ves here. This Real News Network interview with Yilmaz Akyuz, formerly the Director of the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), describes how the problems that produced the financial crisis have morphed into new, no less troubling problems. One key part of this discussion focuses on how China has adapted to its considerably smaller trade surplus, and why having Germany as the new excessive exporter poses new perils to the global economy.
Read more...What the Modern World Owes Slavery (It’s More Than Back Wages)
It’s tempting to turn our eyes from how the economics of slavery operated, but that system represented a huge amount of what one would now call the capital assets of that era, and some of the ways in which slaves were exploited are not often recognized in modern accounts.
Read more...Philip Pilkington: Keynes’ Liquidity Preference Trumps Debt Deflation in 1931 and 2008
Why defining “liquidity trap” precisely matters in understanding crisis dynamics, and Keynes, and not Krugman, got it right.
Read more...Yanis Varoufakis: Can the Internet Democratize Capitalism?
Yves here. Trust me, you must read this post. In its entirety. Varoufakis discusses the operation of “liberal democracy” as opposed to “classical democracy,”. and argues that voter apathy is a feature, not a bug. But the real meat is in his discussion of how the economic rights of laborers has changed over time and how that has had profound implications for democracy.
Read more...Will a $10 Minimum Wage Get All Working Americans Out of Poverty?
Yves here. This Real News Network segment discusses what many readers know all too well, that even a $10 minimum wage fails to provide an adequate standard of living, particularly for parents.
Read more...Open Borders: A Morality Play by the 1%
Beware of conservatives arguing from a moral position, at least when it comes to proposals that they claim will help the poor, like open borders.
Read more...Ireland, Europe, and the U.S. and the Financial Crooks: Interview with Michael Hudson
Michael Hudson discusses austerity in Ireland, how US economic policy has affected Ireland, Europe and the rest of the world as well as how the various political parties in Ireland have mishandled the economic crisis.
Read more...Money Makes People Right-Wing and Inegalitarian
Rich people typically lean right politically. Are they motivated by deeply moral views or self-interest?
Read more...Economics is Applied Morality
The ignorance of many highly experienced economists to the moral foundations of their work is quite alarming.
Read more...The Economics of the 1%: Neoliberal Lies About Government
Yves here. This is a short, straightforward Real News Network interview with John Weeks, Professor Emeritus of the University of London, which dissects the logic, such as it is, by which neoliberals argue against taxes and for smaller government.
Read more...Can Democracy Help With Inequality?
Inequality is currently a prominent topic of debate in Western democracies. In democratic countries, we might expect rising inequality to be partially offset by an increase in political support for redistribution. A new paper argues that the relationship between democracy, redistribution, and inequality is more complicated than that.
Read more...Jealous The New Republic Takes Potshot at The Onion for Being….Marxist!
When Lambert sent me the link to a New Republic article, “The Onion Has Become America’s Finest Marxist News Source,” I first assumed that TNR was engaging in a bit of humorous flattery, as in taking a page from The Onion’s own book in highlighting its success. But on further inspection, I could be wrong. Readers, please help!
Read more...Philip Pilkington: Paul Krugman Pushes Factually Inaccurate Arguments About Argentina to Support Discredited Monetarist Ideas
Yves here. With Argentina one of the emerging markets economies whose currency has taken a huge tumble, its aggressive pro-labor, redistribution-oriented policies have come under attack (as an aside, one has to note that Turkey, which was touted as a model emerging economy a few years back, is also fighting a currency downspiral). And a predictable by-product is that some of Argentina’s policies have been misrepresented. For instance, it’s widely accused of “living beyond its means”. Yet as this post shows, the government ran surpluses in eight of the past ten years.
Read more...Danger of Global Recession After 30 Years of Neoliberal Counterrevolution
Heiner Flassbeck is one of the few economists to get into positions of influence despite being firmly opposed to the prevailing doctrine of neoliberalism. He’s also direct and articulate.
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