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from Lars Syll Most research in economics nowadays involves empirical work … It is therefore odd to find a great deal of economic reasoning still starting from “standard theory”. Whilst it does generate predictions that can be tested empirically, it does not have an empirical foundation, but rather is based on a story about universal human nature … It remains true that the traditional models retain a central place, and accumulating evidence does not tend to lead to the abandonment of a...

from Peter Söderbaum Mainstream neoclassical economics is attacked by many and from different angles or vantage points. Neither the defendants nor the critics can claim value-neutrality. “Values are always with us” (Myrdal 1978) and economics is always ‘political economics’. The neoclassical attempt to construct a ‘pure’ economics has failed. Neoclassical theory may still survive as a theory that is specific in scientific and ideological terms and useful for some purposes. But this...

from Ted Trainer It is not commonly understood how large the reductions would have to be to enable a society that is globally sustainable and just. The World Wildlife Foundation’s Footprint measure (2018) estimates the average Australian per capita use of productive land at 6–8 ha. Thus, if the 9–10 billion people expected to be on earth by 2050 were to live as Australians do now, up to 80 billion ha of productive land would be needed. But there are only about 12 billion ha of productive...

As we have discussed, classical liberals and libertarians have an uneasy relationship with democracy.  The reason is obvious – classical liberals support unregulated or lightly regulated capitalism, and this is not a popular position with voters.  Of course, it could be that classical liberals support both capitalism and democracy, and reluctantly prioritize their commitment to democracy over their commitment to limited government.  Yet as...

from C. P. Chandrasekhar The meltdown in May 2022 in the cryptocurrency world, in which the values of digital coins plunged and rendered some near-worthless, is a wake-up call. It once again shows that cryptocurrencies are nothing but a bunch of insubstantial, digital ‘bits’ created by speculators as ‘coins’ for speculation. Over the years since 2009, when the first bitcoin was minted, privately generated cryptocurrencies have failed to live up to the claim that they offer an...

The rate of growth has been decelerating due to the fiscal contraction, but remains over 50 which means positive growth: No recession here as employment growth continues and unemployment isn’t rising. Yes, growth is slowing from the post-Covid fiscal collapse, but not yet to the point of negative growth. And the increase in prices that exceeds wage growth further works to cause people to take whatever jobs they can to make ends meet.

from Lars Syll External validity poses a challenge for most kinds of research designs, of course. In true experiments in the social sciences, the study group is not usually a random sample from some underlying population. Often, the study group consists instead of a convenience sample, that is, a group of units that have been “drawn” through some nonrandom process from an underlying population. In other studies, one cannot even readily claim that the study group has been drawn from any...

Vladimir Mau Has Been Arrested, Econospeak, Barkley Rosser  Vladimir who? I appreciate that most readers have never heard of this individual. But this is the sign of a major new shift in the situation in Russia. To make clear why this is important: until quite recently Vladimir Mau was the top economic advisor of V.V. Putin. Just prior to his arrest, he has just been reelected to the Board of Gazprom, the most important state-owned company in...

from C. P. Chandrasekhar When the COVID pandemic affected every one of the world’s nations, the way forward seemed obvious, even if difficult to traverse. Given the rapid spread of the disease and its severity that overwhelmed long neglected health systems, and the cost to lives and livelihoods that shutdowns of economic and social activity implied, quick access to drugs and vaccines to manage the pandemic were crucial. Fortunately, government support for biotech research, in general, and...