Saturday, April 19, 2014
secstags or policy-induced paralysis
When It Comes to Generating Jobs It Pays Not to Listen to the Experts by Dean Baker
It is remarkable that no country has outlawed economics as a dangerous occupation on a par with drug dealing or murder for hire. The damage done to the world over the last seven years based on policies designed by economists has been incredible.
Floyd Norris documents this fact in a nice piece comparing the change in employment rates (the percentage of the population employed) in rich countries since 2007. The only two countries with higher employment to population ratios today than at the start of the downturn are Germany and Japan. Both countries have broken with the economic orthodoxy in important ways.
In Germany, the government has adopted policies that encourage employers to keep workers on the payroll by cutting back hours rather than laying them off. As a result, their unemployment rate is almost three percentage points below its pre-recession level even though its growth has actually been somewhat slower than in the United States.
Japan has adopted a policy of aggressive deficit spending even though its debt to GDP ratio is already more than twice that of the United States. It also has deliberately targeted a higher rate of inflation as a way of lowering real interest rates and reducing debt burden. As a result, it has created a number of jobs that would be the equivalent of more than 4 million in the United States.
In short, ignoring the economic orthodoxy works. Listening to orthodox economists brings destruction to the economy and devastates peoples' lives.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
Purple Wedding
AV Club reviews Game Of Thrones (newbies): “The Lion And The Rose”
AV Club reviews Game Of Thrones (experts): “The Lion And The Rose”
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Piketty list
Why We’re in a New Gilded Age by Paul Krugman (5.8.14 issue)
The short guide to Capital in the 21st Century by Matt Yglesias (4.8.14)
THOMAS PIKETTY UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTED SMACKDOWN WATCH: I FIND MYSELF DISAPPOINTED BY THE USUALLY-RELIABLE JAMES GALBRAITH AND PETHOKOUKIS by DeLong (4.6.14)
Kapital for the Twenty-First Century? by James K. Galbraith (Spring 2014 issue)
The New Marxism, Part Two by James Pethokoukis (3.31.14)
Piketty on Capital: A Footnote by Henry Farrell (4.5.14)
Capital in the 21 Century: Still Mired in the 19th (See correction) by Dean Baker (3.9.14 / 4.5.14)
Philip Pilkington: Misdirection – Galbraith on Thomas Piketty’s New Book on Capital (4.3.14)
The Top of the World: An ambitious study documents the long-term reign of the 1 percent by Doug Henwood (April/May 2014 issue)
Forces of Divergence: Is surging inequality endemic to capitalism? by John Cassidy (March 31, 2014)
Dialogue: Eleven (so Far) Worthwhile Reviews of and Reflections on Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”: Wednesday Focus: March 26, 2014 by DeLong (3.25.14)
Kapital for the Twenty-First Century? by James K. Galbraith (Spring 2014 issue)
The New Marxism, Part Two by James Pethokoukis (3.31.14)
Capital in the 21 Century: Still Mired in the 19th (See correction) by Dean Baker (3.9.14 / 4.5.14)
Forces of Divergence: Is surging inequality endemic to capitalism? by John Cassidy (March 31, 2014)
Piketty's Inequality Story in Six Charts by John Cassidy (March 26, 2014)
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
The Central Bank
What Is Going on with the Federal Reserve?: Watching an Ongoing Discussion by DeLong
With unemployment above and inflation below its formal targets, Why is the Federal Reserve talking about withdrawing stimulus? Why is it talking about moving to a regime in which it is no longer purchasing long-term securities as part of quantitative easing? And why is it forecasting that it will begin to increase interest rates six months after quantitative easing ends?
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
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