Category Archives: The dismal science

How European Union Fiscal Rules Subverted Democracy and Institutionalized Neoliberalism

A good overview of how fiscal rules gave neoliberal ideology and unaccountable bureaucrats the upper hand in the EU.

Bill Black: Adam Davidson, the 1%’s Lord Haw-Haw, Mangles Economic Theory to Attack Sanders

Adam Davidson makes numerous misrepresentations about economics in a salvo against Bernie Sanders’ economic plans. Does he really not know better, or has he really drunk the orthodox Kool-Aid?

Towards a Theory of Shadow Money

Struggles over shadow money today echo 19th century struggles over bank deposits.

Bill Black: “Liberal” Economists Cheered the New Democrats’ Deregulation of Finance

A case study illustrating how soi-disant liberal economists pushed the US to the right during the Clinton Administration.

Martin Wolf Defends Central Banks’ Negative Interest Rate Policies

The Financial Times’ lead economics writer, Martin Wolf, makes an intellectually bogus case for negative interest policies.

Intra-EMU Divergence Is A Feature Not A Bug

Yves here. I’m leery of reinforcing the “competitiveness” meme, since it’s based on the false premise that all countries can be exporters. But this article nevertheless makes important observations about Eurozone structural flaws.

Paul Krugman Crosses the Line

Krugman is increasingly discrediting himself as a commentator on economics.

Ireland: a Recovery Built on Sand

How official statistics exaggerate Ireland’s performance, largely due to its status as a tax haven/offshore financial center.

A New Stability and Growth Pact? Let’s Drop the Technocratic Veil!

On how economic growth models constrain policy debates and choices among Eurocrats, and why that is no accident.

Is the Oil Price-GDP Link Broken?

Explanations of the oil price decline are starting to acknowledge deflationary factors, even though the “d” word seems to be outside the pale .

A Wake-Up Call on Climate Change and Clean Energy

Why 2017 could be an event horizon as far as climate change is concerned.

How Much Has Global Economic Power Really Shifted?

Why the shift in economic power from advanced to developing economies has not gone as far as most accounts would have you believe.

Marshall Auerback: Donald Trump Understands the Nexus Between Trade and Immigration

By linking immigration and trade, however crudely, Trump has exposed the broader paradox and inherent contradictions which lurk between the two.