Over at Equitable Growth: I had thought we were well-past the interwar watershed in economic policy. The interwar watershed had three parts: * The winning of the franchise by the working class. * The portfolio rebalancing of the non-entrepreneurial wealthy. * And the recognition that the gold standard was not unbreakable. The last of these … Continue reading »
macroeconomics
What strongly suboptimal fiscal policy means for the inflation target and monetary policy
Over at Equitable Growth: Jared Bernstein: Optimal Fiscal Policy: “I testified in the House Budget Committee this AM… …[with Ryan Silvey from Missouri, John B. Taylor from Stanford, and Chris Edwards from Cato], and have many excellent war stories to share. But no time to do so now… Well! Jared, where are the war stories? We … Continue reading »
Is “secular stagnation” a monetary-financial problem or a fundamental technological problem?
Over at Equitable Growth: On about four of the seven days in a week, my view is that the problems lumped under the heading of “secular stagnation” are primarily monetary-financial problems. Now comes Barry Eichengreen to review the case that these problems are at their root instead of also technological-fundamental. And I must say he … Continue reading »
Ukraine: What emergency measures and what long-term changes are needed?
By Gérard Roland and Yuriy Gorodnichenko* Feb. 27, 2014: Ukraine’s ‘February Revolution’ is threatened by the nation’s dire economic straits. The column discusses short- and long-term changes that are necessary to get the nation through this crisis and back on the track to stability. Although it is only a few days after the successful February … Continue reading »
Diversity in economics
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, in an interview earlier this month, pointed out that there are no women on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). There also happen to be no female ministers in the Treasury. Carney suggested, “What we have to do at the Bank of England is grow top female economists all the … Continue reading »
More services means longer recoveries
By Martha L. Olney and Aaron Pacitti Recovery from recessions takes longer than it has in the past. The current crisis aside, this change has not happened because recessions themselves are longer. Nor has it occurred because recessions are deeper than in the past. Instead this change is the result of slower economic growth following … Continue reading »
A time to spend
The central insight of macroeconomics is a fact that was known to John Stuart Mill in the first third of the nineteenth century: there can be a large gap between supply and demand for pretty much all currently produced goods and services and types of labor if there is an equally large excess demand for … Continue reading »