The Great Depression: Can It Happen Again?

Farming is a risky business. Always has been. A federal program to keep farmers in business during droughts seems like a good idea to me. Sadly, it’s also a target for fraud:“On a normal day, the promising storms produced snow or rain that would fall onto a system of official weather stations at airstrips or town halls, into heated “tipping buckets.” When the teeter-totter buckets filled with a thimbleful of water, the seesaw tilted, dropping one...

Sailing Alone by Richard J. King Reviewed by one-handed economist David Zetland I read this 2023 book by Richard J. King on the recommendation of LS. It’s all about those sailors who take to the sea alone, with only wind (or muscle power). It’s about the mental and physical challenges, and how technology and society have added or (mostly) subtracted from them. I thought the book was insightful. It definitely convinced me that sailing...

 – by New Deal democrat There’s no big economic news today or tomorrow, so let’s take a more detailed look at the leading indicators from Friday’s jobs report. It turns out, the news wasn’t nearly as bad as the headline employment number. Let’s start with the negative stuff. The simple story is, manufacturing is in a funk. Employment in manufacturing declined -24,000, which is tied for a two-year low. Meanwhile, trucking employment declined...

Economic stability is often viewed as a distant goal. Many believe that simply managing government debt will suffice. This is a dangerous misconception. Ignoring private debt levels is like ignoring a ticking time bomb. When households are over-leveraged, they can’t spend. This leads to reduced demand, which spirals into economic downturns. The Great Depression is a prime example. As private debt soared, spending plummeted. The more people tried to pay off their debts,...

I was invited to give a lecture at the School of Marxism of Beihang University (Beijing, China, 11-9-2024). The subject of my talk is ‘Once again on the alleged differences between Engels and Marx. It is based in my paper in International Critical Thought.

The 14th World Socialism Forum opens in Beijing 09-11 September 2024 02:17 The 14th World Socialism Forum opened in Beijing on Monday, organized by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.  Hundreds of participants from around the world have gathered for discussions around the theme «Τhe current changes of the world, of our times and of history.» My presentation in the forum is titled ‘Is Neoliberalism still the dominant political economic paradigm in the...

Suppose that you wake up tomorrow and discover that a sadistic alien has turned you into an economist.  You are just getting over your shock at your new predicament (“How will I make friends?  Will anyone ever trust me again?  At least I’m not a lawyer.”) when Kamala Harris, responding to voter concerns about inflation, makes a vague statement in favor of government restrictions on the price of groceries.  It just so happens that you have a...

I found this report on Health Affairs a day or so ago. It was long and I spent the last two days condensing it so it could be presented and read on Angry Bear. Briefly, the author(s) detailed four main prices which consist of a List Price, an Out-of-Pocket Price, Insurer’s responsibility price, and the Negotiated price once all rebates are accounted. Exhibit 1 is a quicky study to understand how the authors arrived at the breakdown. Also detailed is...

By Garry George Audubon The goal of conservation is to protect biodiversity and prevent species from disappearing. We often associate this work with the maintenance of natural areas, but Audubon’s science shows that bird populations are feeling impacts of climate change even in protected places like wildlife refuges. As just one example, Burrowing Owls are projected to lose 14% of their current range if the average global temperature increases...