Category Archives: The dismal science

Reallocation Effects of the Minimum Wage

Raising minimum wages is good for workers and (surprise!) company operations! Too bad those whiny managers worry they will skim less.

Just Keeps Getting Worse: Services Trade Surplus, the American Dream-Not-Come-True, Worst in 10 Years. Imports Worst Ever. Trade Deficit Worst Ever

Repeat after me: trade deficits = exporting jobs. The latest results confirm how crappy US policies are.

Michael Hudson and Thomas Piketty Debate Inequality, Debt, and Reform

Thomas Piketty and Micheal Hudson address “What is debt,” and also address inequality, rentierism, and reform in the West and China.

The Lasting Impact of the Covid Crisis on Economic Potential

A look at how Covid has damaged the economy and estimating the effect.

Law Review Article Describes Private Equity as Bargaining Failure, Indictment of Law and Economics Fetishization of Contracts

An important new paper puts another big chink in private equity’s armor.

Why the Rich Get Richer and Interest Rates Go Down

A wrongheaded paper from the Jackson Hole conference that depends on the loanble funds fallacy lets central bankers off the hook.

Wait and See: The Labor Market Implications of Economic Uncertainty

An increase in perceived uncertainty does indeed increase the value of waiting, thus reducing job creation.

Neoliberalism Is Dying – Now We Must Replace It

From taming Big Tech to competing with China, Western governments are retreatig from neoliberalism. But what comes next?

Imperialism Then and Now: Wealth, Unemployment and Insufficient Demand

Prabhat Patnaik on imperialism and capitalism: to accumulate wealth, somewhere demand must be suppressed to provide cheap inputs.

How the Economics of Walking About Helps Predict Unemployment, or the Value of Soft Data

On the short-sightedness of over-reliance on hard data.

A Half Century Since The Beginning Of The End Of The Post WW II Economic Order

Marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the Bretton Woods economic system.

Why Economists Don’t Write More Papers on Political Finance

Despite the commonly held views of economists on regulatory capture, our profession has been much more hesitant in recognising similar conflicts of interests that may exist in economics research.

Globalization, Specialization, and the Division of Labour

A new angle on why workers lose out as globalization increases.

Michael Hudson Discusses Financialization, Rentierism, and Other Favorite Topics with Jessi Ora of Swedish Positiva Pengar Group

Michael Hudson gives another wide-ranging, tour de force interview. Enjoy!