The Nobel Prize in Economics: How It Took a Hard Neoliberal Turn
How the so-called Nobel Prize in economics came to validate neoclassical thinking, even as it failed in Sweden.
Read more...Category Archives: Macroeconomic policy
Rethinking Macroeconomic Theory Before the Next Crisis
Only after the US subprime financial crisis began have the macroeconomic and monetary theories of mainstream economists been questioned.
Read more...The Private Debt Crisis
Why private debt is so dangerous, and why that risk looms large, particularly in China.
Read more...Political Foundations of the Lender of Last Resort
The Global Crisis has raised concerns over how far ‘lender of last resort’ policies by central banks should go. This column examines the history of the development of these policies throughout the world. Last resort lending is a locus of political power, and as such, its creation should be viewed as the outcome of a political bargain. It is therefore not surprising that countries differed in their propensity to create such policies, and in the powers with which they chose to endow them.
Read more...David Harvey and Capitalist Hypertension
David Harvey on the circulation of capital, crisis, and the shipping crisis.
Read more...The Charade That Deters the Use of “Direct Spending” to Fund Federal Operations
Why do so many people recoil at the idea that Federal spending does not depend on taxation?
Read more...Michael Hoexter: Living in the Web of Soft Climate Denial
A long road is ahead for humanity in adjusting to our new circumstances but we must now act at times before we are comfortable doing so. Such is the nature of our climate emergency.
Read more...Is Fiscal Policy for Prosperity Back in Place of Austerity?
Austerity appears to be quietly going out of fashion.
Read more...Human Development, Inequality, and Long Working Hours
One-dimensional indicators such as GNI per capita are known to be flawed measures of well-being. The Human Development Index (HDI) introduced dimensions of health and education alongside income. This column argues that an HDI adjusted for inequality and hours worked gives deeper insight into a country’s economic standing. Using this composite measure, the US falls from first to seventh among G8 countries.
Read more...Expansionary Fiscal Consolidation Myth
Why fiscal consolidation, which is neoliberal economists’ pet idea that austerity increases growth, is all wet.
Read more...Wolf Richter: Why this Job Market is Still Terrible: The Politically Incorrect Numbers Everyone is Hushing up
For individuals, the job market has barely improved since the Great Recession.
Read more...The Economic Drivers of Political Disruption in Advanced Economies
The (bad) economic policy roots of political polarization.
Read more...The Immorality and Brutal Violence of Extreme Greed
Yves here. Please welcome guest blogger #SlayTheSmaugs. For those of you who have neither read The Hobbit nor seen the movies, “Smaug” is probably a meaningless word. In The Hobbit, Smaug is a massive and vicious dragon. He sits on a pile of gold and jewels that would bury a football stadium’s grass several feet […]
Read more...Crisis After Brexit: Let Us Put An End to the Old Europe of Denigrators
Europe’s tall order for combatting Brexit: “What is called for is a union so good that people will want more of it.”
Read more...Bill Black and Stephanie Kelton: Is it Time for a New Deal Federal Jobs Program?
On the need for New Deal levels of spending on national priorities and the myths and political grifting that prevent it.
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