Archive for October, 2011
Sumner Ups the Ante on the Hoax of the Decade
For a while now I have shared my theory that Scott Sumner, chief architect of the “target NGDP” proposal on the blogosphere, is actually playing a game with all of us. He has somehow managed to hoodwink not only Brad DeLong and Tyler Cowen but even David R. Henderson. Perhaps because of the metal plate […]
Read moreQuick Question for the MMTers
For those of you intrepid (foolish?) enough to wade through the comments on this blog, you will note that–contrary to perhaps your initial perception–the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) proponents do not actually say that the issuer of a fiat currency can’t become insolvent. Rather, they qualify it in the following way: To qualify for the […]
Read moreKrugman on Europe: “I Do Believe in Fairies!”
(In deference to some who were concerned about my rough treatment of a youngster, I should note that I am not actually quoting Krugman in the post title.) Anyway, Krugman today seems to be explaining movements in interest rates based on “confidence”: There has been a rhythm to the euro crisis: again and again, investors […]
Read moreIn Defense of David R. Henderson
David R. Henderson has the enviable task of being the Wall Street Journal’s go-to guy every year when the Nobel (Memorial) Prize in economics is announced. For this year’s recipients, David said the award was given to people whose work put “a sizable chink in the Keynesians’ armor.” Now David gives a bunch of evidence […]
Read moreKrugman Bask on Bond Vigilantes
Krugman today yet again gives IS-LM all the credit for leading to his good predictions on interest rates. (I’m not being sarcastic; Krugman publicly was saying interest rates wouldn’t spike, when others were.) But I would like someone to show me where Krugman has actually used the IS-LM model to explain two different things: (A) […]
Read moreJesus the Great Storyteller
It recently struck me that among His other superlative traits, Jesus was a great storyteller. There was no reason it had to be so. Moses wasn’t a storyteller, nor were any of the other giants from the Old Testament (at least not that I can think of). Daniel would tell some amazing tales, to be […]
Read moreTwin Spin From Silas Barta
Silas Barta is not so sure he trusts the White House committee that decides which Americans will die based on criteria that are classified, and so he has created a Do Not Kill list. On a more serious note, Silas has an interesting suggestion for those who take seriously the signalling model of education: You […]
Read moreAggregate Demanders Once Again Hit Below the Belt
In the same spirit as Scott Sumner’s “if we eventually get high inflation, it will probably be due to tight money over the past few years,” I must also call the referee’s attention to this throwaway line from Krugman. After reminding readers that the Obama stimulus was in no way a “test” of actual Keynesian […]
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