Economics

Archive for Economics

Sometimes You Should Look Up the Numbers, Fiscal “Cliff” Edition

I’m working on an op ed on the “fiscal cliff” and just for kicks, I decided to see just how savage these massive cuts in spending would be. Now let me confess, the results shocked even me, so by all means, somebody show me what I’m overlooking… Here’s a snapshot from a table in the […]

Clarification on Fed Monetizing Deficit in 2013

I realized something wasn’t adding up with the numbers, and went and double-checked the JP Morgan report that led me (in this video) to say that the Fed may monetize the entire federal budget deficit in 2013. Well, that’s a misleading way to describe it (which is why I’m posting this clarification). What the JP […]

And to All a Good Night

You guys already know about this, but maybe you have someone on your list who’s been naughty and reading Scott Sumner or something. Also, I needed to break up the karaoke videos on my YouTube channel…

Rowe Ruh Roh

Sorry, I was trying to come up with the analog of a Krugman Kontradiction for Nick Rowe, and this was it… Some of you may recall that I happily linked to Nick Rowe explaining just how nutty was Paul Krugman’s praise of a hypothetical bond vigilante attack on the US. (Remember, Brad DeLong had to […]

Stephen Williamson Doesn’t Think He’s in a Cult

This made me chuckle. Here’s the opening portion of a blog post by Stephen Williamson: I thought I would offer some light entertainment today. This Paul Krugman post struck me as perhaps more deranged than usual on the topic of macroeconomists. Here are the two closing paragraphs, to give you the idea: In fact, the freshwater […]

There Isn’t a Spending Category Called “Deficit Reduction”

[UPDATE below.] David R. Henderson over at EconLog praised my recent critique of a David Frum article on carbon taxes, but David had one quibble with me. I’m not sure if David and I have a genuine disagreement, or if it’s just a matter of him not understanding what I was trying to say. Let […]

Brad DeLong Has Met the Enemy, and He Is Him

Brad DeLong explains how it’s not easy being in a club of Cassandras: Back in the middle of 2011, in the circles in which I traveled–policy-oriented macroeconomists who actually knew something about the world and about financial history–there was a rough consensus that we all ought to make one last charge for more aggressive policies […]

Bank of England & Carney: This Doesn’t Sound Good

Scott Sumner links to this article from the Financial Times. I’m feel queasy. Take a look: The [UK] Treasury opened the door to a more aggressive monetary policy on Wednesday, as aides to the chancellor welcomed the next Bank of England governor’s radical views on stimulus measure for flagging economies. In a speech on Monday, […]