It takes something for me to say that The Economist is probably right. Sure enough the cover of The Economist, which has led to many critiques, sarcastic comments, and plain mockery by some friends on the left, was a bit hyperbolic. But the main argument of the piece -- basically that the American economy did pretty well in the recovery from the Pandemic, and that the United States has done well when compared to other advanced economies, and better than it did in the last few recoveries,...
Read More »More on the possibility and risks of a recession
So both the (inverted) yield curve and the Sahm rule indicate a recession. This together with two months of slower employment creation, and the slightly higher unemployment rate, has many wondering whether the economy will crash soon. I discussed before -- a while ago, before the pandemic recession, that had nothing to do with the yield curve -- why an inverted yield curve doesn't necessarily mean a forthcoming recession. The Sahm rule, like the inverted yield curve has an impressive track...
Read More »A bad day for whom? The Left for one
I blink, you lose! Will Rogers supposedly said that he was not a member of any organized political party. He completed that noting he was a Democrat. That feeling is alive and well among Dems. The confusion caused by Biden's withdrawal seems to have led to many peculiar views among pundits and public intellectuals. Two typical reactions are the ones that are certain that Biden would have lost, and now with Kamala the election is in the bag, and the ones that suggest that the lefties in the...
Read More »Trumponomics vs. Bidenomics: The good, the bad and the stupid
The debate between Biden and Trump is on everybody's mind. And for good reason, the future of the global economy, and the well being of the planet are always at stake in American elections. I, of course, will restrict my brief comments here to the economy, and what the alternatives might entail. But the analysis of the impacts of both programs, if one can talk of programs per se, is very poor, to say the least.Broadly speaking there has been increasing agreement on a tougher policy with...
Read More »Bidenomics and other ugly ducklings
The media and a good chunk of the policy wonks are surprised that Biden does not get the deserved recognition for the relatively good state of the US economy, and that as a result he is suffering in the polls. There are two separate, but interrelated, causes for that. The most obvious can be defined in one word, inflation. The second, is related to the fact that, even though the recovery from the pandemic was fast, the economic situation for most working class people has not been great for a...
Read More »Open Thread November 18 2023 – Bidenomics
Bidenomics, a campaign slogan and a new approach. “Policy-making with the North Star rebalancing power in the economy fostering the industries we need, supporting workers’ demands for higher wages, and more economic security.” Open Thread November 13 2023 – What happens to employment when the minimum wage is increased? Angry Bear Tags: Bidenomics...
Read More »Some brief thoughts on Bidenomics
There has been a lot of writing about Bidenomics (a name that might stick, like Reaganomics; nobody really thinks of Clintonomics as a thing) recently. It is fundamentally about the return of industrial policy, even if I personally think that this is less momentous than what people think. Don't get me wrong, both the rediscovery of fiscal policy after the 2007-9 recession (no fiscal packages after the 1990-91 or 2001 recessions, but packages after both 2007-9 and Pandemic in 2020), and the...
Read More »Gatekeepers and herd behavior: On Tooze and the radicalization of Krugman
"But that one is holding the poop!"Adam Tooze, the author of the monumental Crashed (who was, incidentally, student of Wynne Godley, one of my mentors), wrote a piece for the London Review of Books that has received a lot of praise. While it reviews Paul Krugman's latest book, it provides an overview of the radicalization of New Keynesians, or at least some, that dominate both in academia, and in the corridors or power. The gatekeepers of knowledge and academic and intellectual influence,...
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