Back in April, I wrote about one of the most troubling mysteries in economics, the falling labor share. Less of the income the economy produces is going to people who work, and more is going to people who own things.... Mystery to morons conventional economists maybe.Here, Noah, read this: Michal Kalecki, "Political Aspects of Full Employment" (Political Quarterly, 1943). It's even posted at Brad DeLong's site.It's a feature of capitalism, or a bug, depending on which side one is on. The...
Read More »IPA’s weekly links
Guest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action. The summer ape blockbuster you’re been waiting for is here. In Science economists Seema Jayachandran, and Joost de Laat team up with satellite researchers Eric Lambin, Charlotte Stanton, Robin Audy, and Nancy Thomas (with some help from IPA and Uganda’s Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust). They ran the first RCT showing that just paying farmers in Uganda a little bit not to cut down forest on their land where...
Read More »Austerity, class warfare and weak labor markets
Labor market still weak. New BLS report says that: "total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1 percent." Also: "average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees were unchanged" and revisions meant that "employment gains in July and August combined were 59,000 less than previously reported." Not enough job creation, labor participation falling, and wages stagnant. Secretary of Labor said,...
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