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Tag Archives: Uncategorized

Half-time for the Albanese government

My latest Blogstack It’s now just over 18 months since the 2022 election, so we are halfway through the the Albanese government’s term. At this point, it looks highly unlikely that the government will be returned with an outright majority, whenever the next election is held. So, it’s worth thinking about the government’s strategy, why it has apparently failed and whether it ever had a chance of success.Even before the 2019 election Albanese was positioning himself to challenge...

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Wages. Just for fun.

from Peter Radford This is just for fun.  It’s nearly the holiday season after all. Let’s tell a story: a friend of ours here in southern Vermont was looking for a job.  She saw an advertisement posted by a local business.  Or, perhaps, she heard something about a job from a friend.  In any case she applied and got the job. Well done. Her wage is, naturally, determined by her marginal productivity.  We all know that.  All wages are determined by individual worker marginal productivity....

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Positivism & the loss of meaning

from Asad Zaman and WEA Pedagogy Bog I recently gave a talk to students of Modern Money and Economics of Sustainability at Torrens University. The video of the talk is here. I have also written up some notes about this talk which clarify some points only sketched briefly in the talk, and provide links to more detailed discussions.  The following writeup provides some details and background missing from the talk, and also links to related materials: The transition from a traditional...

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‘New Keynesianism’ — more useless than ever

from Lars Syll “the heart of darkness in ‘New Keynesian’ macroeconomics” Macroeconomic models may be an informative tool for research. But if practitioners of ‘New Keynesian’ macroeconomics do not investigate and make an effort to provide a justification for the credibility of the assumptions on which they erect their building, it will not fulfil its tasks. There is a gap between its aspirations and its accomplishments, and without more supportive evidence to substantiate its claims,...

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Weekend read – The great re-boot. Perhaps.

from Peter Radford I keep coming upon ideas that seem to make such sense that, surely, they have been imported into economics.  But, no, hubris prevents an expansion of the discipline to include such novelty.  The threat they represent to the entire mainstream edifice is too much of a threat.  The guild closes ranks.  The guild closes its mind.  And gets quite snooty in the process.  Outsiders are seen as simple, lacking in basic understanding, or naively misunderstanding the great...

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Credit in the Euro Area: a recession has arrived

According to the Monetary Statistics of the European Central Bank, the credit impulse to the Euro Area economy is getting even weaker (graph 1, the yellow part of the bars). Which not only forbodes a recession but already is a recession. Graph 1. Monetary developments in the Euro Area. Source. This interpretation (the EA is in a recession) gains credibility when we realize that most of the remaining net credit is used to finance the purchase of existing houses and not to finance...

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When it comes to prescription drugs, the Washington Post can’t even conceive of free trade

from Dean Baker Like many self-imagined “free-traders,” the Washington Post editorial board cannot even conceive of free trade when it comes to prescription drugs. They demonstrated this fact yet again in discussing ways to deal with the high price of effective weight-loss drugs like Wegovy. These drugs carry price tags of more than $1,000 a month, making them costly for insurers, governments, or individuals who have to pick up the tab themselves. The Post throws out a couple of ideas...

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Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy 80 years later: a WEA Conference

from Maria Alejandra Madi I am writing today about a new online conference of the World Economics Association ”Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy 80 years later: Looking at capitalism today in light of its past and possible future”.  It runs from 1st February to 28th February, 2024.  You can find more information about it here: https://capitalismanddemocracy2024.weaconferences.net/ Home Background Submissions Register Frequently Asked Questions Conference Leaders Arturo Hermann and...

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Presentism and veganism: If I’m wrong, I’m wrong now and forever (crosspost from Substack)

Within pretty broad limits[1], I’m an advocate of historical ‘presentism’, that is, assessing past events and actions in the same way as those in the present, and considering history in relation to our present concerns. In particular, that implies viewing enslavers, racists and warmongers in the same light, whether they are active today or died hundreds of years ago. Protesters pulling down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, England, during a demonstration organized...

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