same love

Macklemore & Lewis’ “Same Love” is more than a pro-gay marriage anthem

Josh Barro

I thought Josh Barro did an excellent job on Real Time with Bill Maher last night, especially when he argued monetary policy with Carly Fiorina.

Atlantic article by Jonathan Chait.

Germany and debt ceiling clown show

The Myth of the German Boom Persists in Roger Cohen's Columns by Dean Baker

House Republicans Make Saddest Hostage Threat Ever by Jonathan Chait

GOP Preparing New Farcical Debt Ceiling Standoff by Yglesias

Legend of the Seeker

therealtabrettbethell via Bridget Regan's twitter

My post on Cara back in 2009

Keynes on the rentiers

The Euthanasia of the Rentier by Krugman 

A commenter quotes John Maynard Keynes:

The outstanding faults of the economic society in which we live are its failure to provide for full employment and its arbitrary and inequitable distribution of wealth and incomes.

It is, of course, a perfect quote for our times, too. It comes from the last chapter of the General Theory — a chapter that definitely bears rereading in the light of current debates.

For what Keynes describes in this chapter is, pretty much, a condition of secular stagnation — of persistently low returns on investment, in which there is a chronic oversupply of saving. He believed, in 1936, that this would be the state of affairs in the decades ahead, and was of course wrong in that belief. But he wasn’t wrong about the possibility of such a state of affairs, and since Larry Summers came out as a secular stagnationist, the view that we may well be there now has gone mainstream.

What struck me, looking at what Keynes wrote, were his remarks on interest rates and the return to capital: low rates of interest, he suggested,

would mean the euthanasia of the rentier, and, consequently, the euthanasia of the cumulative oppressive power of the capitalist to exploit the scarcity-value of capital.

Actually, for now at least profits remain high — but bond yields are very low.

What Keynes didn’t say, but now seems obvious, is that the rentiers are unlikely to accept their euthanasia gracefully. And therein, I’d argue, lies the ultimate explanation of the persistent clamor for monetary tightening despite weak economies and low inflation. I’ve described on a number of occasions how tight-money advocates are constantly shifting their arguments — it’s about inflation; no, it’s about sound market functioning; no, it’s about financial stability — but always with the same bottom line: rates must rise now now now.

Well, what I think we’re hearing is the sound of rentiers and those who, explicitly or implicitly, work for them, demanding their natural right to earn good returns even if the resource they control isn’t actually scarce anymore. They are not willing to go gently into their euthanasia.

Broad City

The characters of Broad City don’t want to be liked—they want to be funny

Both episodes screened for critics—the premiere, “What A Wonderful World,” and the February 5 installment, “Working Girls”—depict impossible quests wrapped around schedules that are superficially demanding. But to the benefit of the show’s tangent-prone sense of humor, those itineraries have a lot of wiggle room, geographically and temporally.

.... Executive producer Amy Poehler has been visible and vocal in her promotion for the series; “Working Girls” boasts appearances by Janeane Garofalo and Rachel Dratch.

workaholic brownoses

Three-Piece Suits, Breakfast Meetings, and Overwork by Krugman

That's been my experience. It's why the culture has been suffering and will further decay.

E.L. Doctrow

E. L. Doctorow: By the Book

If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

He’s a reader and doesn’t need my instruction. On the other hand, if I could require Republican members of Congress to read one book it would be Keynes’s “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.”

James Tobin

James Tobin doesn't seem to get enough credit or recognition. In this interview, Krugman points to a book of his. In the recent Time magazine cover story, it describes how Yellen was his graduate teaching assistant and took marvelous notes which he used.

Game of Thrones Spoilers

My amateur, impressionistic commentary about what's in the trailer.

A dragon flying over the Red Keep at King's Landing. From a dream?

Daenerys rules a city - Yunkai or Mereen? She is advised by Mormont, Selmy, and Missandei. Melisandre the Red Priestess is burning heretics.

Jaime's the new Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Tywin and Cersei are still around. Tyrion is taken prisoner after Joffrey's death.

Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, talking with Varys. Ygritte, Tormund Giantsbane and the Wildlings attack Castle Black which is defended by Jon Snow, Alliser Thorne and the Nightswatch. Theon's sister Yara Greyjoy and the Iron Islanders rescue Theon who is shown in armor. Rast leaves a baby in the snow for the White Walkers. Arya, Brandon, Littlefinger and Hodor are still around.

The Red Viper and the Mountain fight in a trial by combat over Tyrion's guilt.

Joffrey and Margaery wed. The Hound is shown fighting. Sansa escapes to the Eyrie.

Stannis Baratheon and Davos Seaworth are still around. Stannis's cavalry rides down the Wildlings at the Wall and saves Castle Black.

QE

Of Quantitative Easing, Political Economists, and Marshallian Parrots... by DeLong

So put me with Ryan Avent, who tweets:

[The] risk [is that] of not being considered a [very] serious person by peers [unless you claim to greatly fear the risks of quantitative easing]

Person of Interest's Prescience is Eerie

"Person of Interest”: The TV Show That Predicted Edward Snowden by Joshua Rothman

Interplanet Janet

Janet Yellen: The Sixteen Trillion Dollar Woman by Rana Foroohar

"I'd like to see real wages going up," Yellen says, adding that the average American male worker's inflation-adjusted wages have been flat or down for the past 20 years."

And via Thoma:

Recurring Themes for the New Year by Charles Evans

positive outlook

Fiscal Drag and Less Thereof by Jared Bernstein

My guess is that the deficit as a share of GDP will be around the same this year as last year, meaning little or no “negative fiscal impulse.”



So, granted that a lot can still go wrong—debt ceiling!—and that the failure to extend UI benefits would counteract some of the pro-growth results I show here, we may have reached a do-less-harm moment from our elected officials. Woohoo!

"But as a macroeconomic phenomenon, overcapacity is bullshit."

"Overcapacity" by Steve Randy Waldman

(via Ryan Avent)

Hitchens

Article on Hitchens. Came up in discussion about Bill Keller. I don't remember it being the best piece.

secstags and demand management*

What Market Failures Underlie Our Fears of "Secular Stagnation"? by DeLong

What Policy Conclusions Follow from Our Fears of “Secular Stagnation”? by DeLong

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*supply can also be managed of course.

the blogosphere

Heroes of blogging by Noah Smith

Game of Thrones

Golden Globes

Khaleesi Emilia Clarke* (and Chris O'Donnell) present Amy Poehler with an award, beating out other favorites Deschanel and Louis-Dreyfus. (I really like Veep where they did filibuster reform.) Tatiana Maslany didn't win in her category unfortunately.

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*She made in interesting-looking film called Spike Island. It's about some young people in 1990 trying to attend the Stone Roses' now "increasingly legendary" gig.

Wikipedia:

The Stone Roses' outdoor concert at Spike Island in Widnes on 27 May 1990 was attended by some 27,000 people. The event, considered a failure at the time due to sound problems and bad organisation, has become legendary over the years as a "Woodstock for the baggy generation".^[69] In mid-2010 footage of the concert was published on Youtube.