Category Archives: The dismal science

DSGE, the Standard Economic Paradigm, is Based on Bad Modeling

Why the New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) is a straightjacket for macroeconomics.

Pointless Pain Is What We’re Enduring. And All for the Sake of Accepting That Money is Not a Constraint on Our Potential, and Never Will Be

Defitic hysteria, UK style, and why misunderstanding what government money is about persists.

Why Behavioral Economics Needs Behavioral Biology: Avoiding Arms Races

Are behavioral economists really nudging people in the right direction?

Artificial Intelligence Could Mean Large Increases in Prosperity—But Only for a Privileged Few

Labor-saving advances in artificial intelligence may undo the gains from globalization and pose new challenges for economic development

James Galbraith: CBO Not Competent to Assess Economics of Minimum Wage

James Galbraith slams an “unreliable” CBO report claiming that raising the minimum wage would reduce jobs.

The Bank of England Should Stop Broadcasting the Views of a Comfortable Financial Elite

A “put foot in mouth and chew” episode from Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane.

The Dangers of Sustainability Metrics

A favorite topic: the downside of fetishinzing metrics.

Michael Hudson – Changes in Super Imperialism

Michael Hudson recaps his classic Super Imperalism and extends it to the 21st century struggle for dominance among the US, China, and Russia.

Negative Interest Rates Are Coming, but There Is No Chance That They Will Work

Negative interest rates: a bad idea that some central banks still can’t resist.

My Advice to an Aspiring Economist: Don’t Be an Economist

There is a new world that is fast-overtaking us, and it needs to be seen and explained on its own terms.

Rise of the Superstar Firms: Taking Oligopoly Seriously in Macroeconomics

Quelle surprise! Only now that EU and US officials are up in arms about monopolies are macroeconomics pros taking it seriously.

The American Rescue Act: Do Whatever It Takes

The economy is likely to be crippled for months and fiscal rescue on a large scale, once again, is very much necessary.

Edward Lazear: Personnel, Policy, and Productivity

Eulogy for Edward Lazear, a “consummate economist.”