Economics

Archive for Economics

I Knew This Would Happen: Minimum Wage Shenanigans

Remember back when we were arguing about the minimum wage? One of the things I pointed out–here’s a post on the topic but unfortunately I can’t find myself making this specific point–is that even if you conceded that “modest” increases in the minimum wage wouldn’t lead to significant drops in employment, that that had no […]

News Flash: The Non-Stupid CBO Proves DeLong Was Wrong

I am traveling all week and have to keep this short and sweet. Here’s a chronicle of what happened in yet another exchange of blogfire with my favorite Keynesians: ==> Brad DeLong said, “There are no signs in the pace of technological progress, in the level of investment…[or in several other factors–RPM]…to suggest that the […]

DeLong Sees Nothing In the Investment Data That Would Slow Capacity Growth

[UPDATE below.] Brad DeLong has this habit where he makes it look as if he’s walked through several different strands of evidence, and they all come down squarely on the position he agreed with at the start of his investigation–even though some of the evidence obviously cuts the other way. It’s like we’re arguing over […]

Two Sumner Posts That I Thoroughly Enjoyed

In this post, Scott hits something that I have been pointing out myself: So let’s review the past year: 1. Keynesians warned us that it would be a huge mistake to adopt fiscal austerity in America. It would cut growth sharply. Mark Sadowski has the details. 2. The “Laffer wing” of the Keynesian movement predicts […]

Von Pepe Is Bearish On China

The brooding von Pepe–who discovered something about himself after the Oprah incident–emails me to bring up the issue of China, which he thinks is classic Austrian business cycle material. I want to be clear that I do not follow China, and I trust their official statistics less than the BLS. But von Pepe sends this […]

Yet More (Unimpressive) Evidence of the “Prescient” Janet Yellen

This dispute over the next Fed chair is hilarious. (Thank goodness our system doesn’t place one person in charge of wheat production or computer output. It’s only that little aspect of our economy–the MONEY–that is in the hands of one group of well-connected technocrats.) I’ve already pointed out one guy who heaps praise on Janet […]

Thoughts on My Debate With David Friedman

After reviewing our debate (which I’m reposting below), I realized there were a few points where I misunderstood what Friedman was saying. It will not surprise you to hear that I think there were also several points where he misunderstood me. (For one obvious example, of course I know that modern physicists think the universe […]

Structural versus Demand-Side Theories of Unemployment

Paul Krugman has a new post–which Scott Sumner calls “very good”–in which he explains why the structural explanations of the recession don’t fit the facts. In contrast (you will not be surprised to hear), Krugman’s own demand-side theory comes out with flying colors. Here’s Krugman: [O]ne strong indicator that the problem isn’t structural is that […]