Do Market Economies Make Us "Greedy, Selfish, and Amoral"?
Herb Gintis replies to an essay essay by Michael Sandel on how markets crowd out morality (other replies): ... By focusing on the marketability of particular things, Sandel misses the larger effect of an economy regulated by markets on the...
Fed Watch: Calm Before the Storm?
Tim Duy: Calm Before the Storm?, by Tim Duy: A relatively calm start to the week. Can it last? Almost certainly not. It will get worse before it gets better. A few themes popped since last Friday that are worth...
Tax Cuts Disguised as Reform
No matter what Republicans say, always remember the ultimate goal is more tax cuts for their supporters: Don’t let Congress fast-track another tax cut, Andrew Fieldhouse: House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) high-profile speech at last week’s 2012 Fiscal Summit garnered...
"The Irresponsibility of Speaker John Boehner"
Stan Collender is very unhappy with John Boehner: The Irresponsibility of Speaker John Boehner, by Stan Collender: ...Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) choreographed events last week in which he repeatedly said he would prevent the debt ceiling increase that will be...
Why Have Politicians Neglected the Unemployed?
Republicans didn't always oppose the use of monetary and fiscal policy to stabilize the economy, but they do now. Why the change?:
Why Have Politicians Neglected the Unemployed?
Links for 2012-05-22
The Age of Equality - Richard Pomfret Was Hayek a (Welfare) Statist? - Uneasy Money Hayek and the Welfare State, Yet Again - Crooked Timber The Long and Short of Fiscal Policy - Alan Blinder Is That the Sound of...
"The Commencement Aaddress That Won’t be Given"
Robert Reich has inspiring words for new graduates: The commencement address that won’t be given, by Robert Reich: As a former secretary of labor and current professor, I feel I owe it to you to tell you the truth about...
Fiscal Policy Works
Paul Krugman: None So Blind: As those who will not see. Eddie Lazear has an op-ed in the WSJ on the fiscal cliff that, among other things, pooh-poohs any concerns that sudden cuts in spending might hurt the economy. He...
Paul Krugman: Dimon’s Déjà Vu Debacle
Opponents of regulation end up making a strong case for it: Dimon’s Déjà Vu Debacle, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: Sometimes it’s hard to explain why we need strong financial regulation — especially in an era saturated with pro-business,...
Links for 2012-05-21
For the Uninsured, the Wait for Health Care - NYTimes.com Metaphorically Speaking - Peter Dorman How universities helped transform the medieval world - Vox EU Facebook’s I.P.O. and Dual-Class Share Structures - James Surowiecki Will The Student Debt Burden Depress...
"We Need More and Better Data, not Less"
Calculated Risk: Comment: We need more and better data, not less, by Calculated Risk: The Depression led to an effort to enhance and expand data collection on employment, and I was hoping the housing bubble and bust would lead to...
Did Samuelson and Solow Really Claim that the Phillips Curve was a Structural Relationship?
Like Robert Waldmann, I have always taught that the Phillips curve was initially promoted as a permanent tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. It was thought to be a menu of choices that allowed most any unemployment rate to be achieved...
