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from Jamie Morgan Part 4 of Pandemic aware economies, public health business models and (im)possible futures One optimistic point of view hopes our economies bounce back (a deep sharp ‘v’ shape). But this seems increasingly unlikely and is now a minority position. This is partly because of a path-dependency governments are not well-equipped to quickly or easily shift. No  effective treatments are available yet for Covid-19 and even as some become available we will still be living in more...

from Lars Syll In The World in the Model Mary Morgan gives a historical account of how the model became the message in economics. On the question of how the models provide a method of enquiry where they can function both as “objects to enquire into” and as “objects to enquire with”, Morgan argues that model reasoning involves a kind of experiment. She writes: It may help to clarify my account of modelling as a double method of enquiry in economics if we compare it with two of the other...

A new sandpit for long side discussions, conspiracy theories, idees fixes and so on. The last got clogged with random conspiracy theories. To be clear, the sandpit is for regular commenters to pursue points that distract from regular discussion, including conspiracy-theoretic takes on the issues at hand. It’s not meant as a forum for visiting conspiracy theorists, or trolls posing as such. Like this:Like Loading...

Universities are the servants of three masters: the state governments that provide the statutory basis, the federal government which provides most of the funding for research and domestic students and the international market.* The Australian public are not among those to whom the universities see themselves as owing a duty* These multiple allegiances create great opportunities for the managers of the university to pursue their own interests, playing off the various masters against...

from Dean Baker Neil Irwin had an interesting New York Times piece on how concerns about moral hazard in the bailout may damage the recovery. The gist of the article is that the fear that bad actors will be wrongly rewarded will prevent us from spending enough money to get the economy back on its feet. Irwin’s point is very important, but it does require some further examination. We might agree for example, that it is silly to oppose an airline bailout because it will help shareholders if...

from David Ruccio You know things are bad—and going to get worse—when a mainstream newspaper like the Washington Post invokes the Mohr: What Karl Marx once called “the reserve army of the unemployed” will probably keep wage growth in check as the recovery inches forward. Despite the inverted commas, Marx never used that exact phrase. He referred to an “industrial reserve army” or “relative surplus population” (in chapter 25 of volume 1 of Capital), which he saw as both a result and a...

from Lars Syll Rigorous macroeconomics must therefore ground its analysis in individual behavior, recognize that only a few key variables carry over to the aggregate level, and generally posit distinct functional forms at the macro level. Keynes and Kalecki are eminent examples of this. Keynes builds his analysis of aggregate consumption on personal income and a variety of subjective and objective factors that influence individual savings (non-consumption) behavior. He is also careful to...

from Jamie Morgan Part 3 of six part Pandemic aware economies, public health business models and (im)possible futures Whatever path is chosen it can still be pursued more or less effectively, and in an evolving world this matters for how things turn out. Governments need to project competence but they need also to translate this into actual competence; ‘demonstrated competence’ is an issue of logistics and practical procedures that follow from adequate planning at a national and local...