Category Archives: The dismal science

Income Inequality in a Globalising World

Absolute inequality around the world has increased, challenging the purported benefit of globalization.

Backlash Against Trade Deals: The End of U.S.-Led Economic Globalisation?

Why the backlash against the overreach of US trade deals, as embodied by the TPP and TTIP, is well warranted.

The Private Debt Crisis

Why private debt is so dangerous, and why that risk looms large, particularly in China.

Michael Hudson: Celebrating the One Percent – Is Inequality Really Good for the Economy?

The backlash has begun. Prominent economists are upping their game in trying to depict the gains of the One Percent as virtuous and beneficial.

Trade Globalisation in the Last Two Centuries

Trade globalization started earlier than most economists realize, undermining conventional stories about how it came about.

Thomas Palley: The Fed’s Misguided Approach to Tightening

The Fed touted its “creativity” in bailing out banks during the crisis. That “creativity” is absent in how it is planning to exit its extraordinary policies.

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?

Is Fiscal Policy for Prosperity Back in Place of Austerity?

Austerity appears to be quietly going out of fashion.

Why Behavioral Economics Is Really Marketing Science

Not only do economists ignore the role of banks in their models, they also omit marketing and the malleability of consumer preferences.

Eurozone Stability Under Threat of a ‘Bad Shock’

Remarkably, an increasing number of economists believe the Eurozone has addressed its weaknesses. Shades of the Great Moderation, circa 2006.

Dirk Bezemer and Michael Hudson: Finance is Not the Economy

Picking apart the conflation of real capital with finance capital and explaining how that confusion undermines sound analysis of the crisis.

Top Marginal Tax Rates and Real Economic Growth, Part 1

This post looks at the relationship between the top marginal income tax bracket and growth in real GDP per capita (from NIPA table 7.1) in the subsequent year or years.