Economics

Archive for Economics

Quick Note on Consumption vs. Income Tax

[UPDATE: This whole “disagreement” with Rothbard may have been a figment of my bad memory; see this post.] Some people are asking me about Robert Wenzel’s take on Peter Schiff/Herman Cain on tax theory. I would have to sit and think through Rothbard’s argument about a consumption tax getting shifted back onto the incomes of […]

Quick 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 […]

Krugman 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 […]

In 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 […]

Krugman 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) […]

Twin 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 […]

Aggregate 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 […]

Thoughts on the Econ Nobel Laureates

David R. Henderson is, as usual, much more courteous than I am. He argues that this year’s awards should be construed as “non-Keynesian,” and maybe he’s right. Yet here was my take: This year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics goes to two Americans, Thomas Sargent (NYU) and Christopher Sims (Princeton). Officially the award is for […]