Economics

Archive for Economics

Yglesias Wants to Abolish the EPA!!

(Hint: At least skim this whole post. There’s a surprise at the end.) Wow, I stand corrected. I recently implied that on the great scientist/ideologue divided, Matt Yglesias came down on the side of Krugman. Yet in a recent post on Pigovian theory, Yglesias totally proved me wrong (HT2 Daniel Kuehn): Against Pigovian Taxes, For […]

The Fairest Keynesian in the Land

When I look upon my mirror and ask it to name me the fairest Keynesian in the land, he says Mecha Lekka Hi Mecha Hiney Ho. But when prompted again, he says it’s Karl Smith. For example, in a recent post Karl put a picture of Ron Paul’s End the Fed and then said this: […]

The Most Klassic Krugman Kontradiction of All Time

This actually made me get up and pace around the office for a minute. I had to let it sink in, it was so delicious. First, the context: People have the long knives out for Russ Roberts, who had disputed the evidence that Krugman had given for a Keynesian worldview, and then Russ Roberts concluded: […]

Sumner Plugs the Last Chink In His Inflationist Armor

I know many of you are probably getting sick of my obsession with econo-blogger Scott Sumner, but he is really something else. In previous posts I have shown that Sumner has explicitly declared that even if his policies lead to nothing but rising price inflation, he will have no regrets. Yesterday he made his views […]

A Tale of Two Krugmans

On Sunday Paul Krugman wanted to nip in the bud the small-government fantasy that the way to deal with reckless bankers is to stop bailing them out: One line I’ve been seeing in various places, including comments here, is the claim that the real way to deal with Wall Street is laissez-faire economics: no more […]

Boehner Boom Baby?

When he’s not trying to be the Moment of Zen clip on the next episode of the Daily Show, University of Rochester economist Steve Landsburg showers some love on Paul Krugman. After quoting Krugman saying: Here’s a question I haven’t seen asked: If fear of future regulations and taxes is holding business back, as everyone […]

Fiat Money and the Euro Crisis

My article today at Mises: Lost in all the analysis of the theory of “optimal currency area,” the possibilities for a structured default, the consequences of a collapse of the euro, etc., are two simple questions: Why does the behavior of the Greek government have anything to do with taxpayers in Germany? Why did the […]

Brad DeLong Convinces Me I’m Not Insane

Remember that famous psychology experiment where the unwitting subject is in a room with ten people, and then the administrators show two lines–one much shorter than the other? If the first nine people (who in reality are all confederates with the experimenters) say the shorter line is longer, then the last guy might go against […]