Monthly Archives: June 2011
Unchanged Debt Explosion
CBO’s Long-Term Budget Outlook released this week is essentially the same as last year’s: without a change in policy the debt will explode to over 900 percent of GDP. One difference is that CBO decided not to print out the … Continue reading
Posted in Budget & Debt
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The Two Year Anniversary of the Non-Recovery
This month marks the two-year anniversary of the end of recession and start of recovery. But it’s a recovery in name only, so weak as to be nonexistent. And it has been weak from the start. Real GDP growth has … Continue reading
Posted in Slow Recovery
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Why Avoiding Bailouts is Good Policy
Asgeir Jonsson’s interesting and perceptive article in today’s Wall Street Journal provides a clear lesson for students and policymakers alike about the harm that comes from bailouts and the good that comes from avoiding them. If a government recognizes the … Continue reading
Posted in Financial Crisis
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Why Not Go For 5% Growth?
Some skeptics have complained about the 5% national economic growth target put forth by former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty in his speech this week about his economic plan. They say it can’t be done. But I think the goal makes … Continue reading
Posted in Regulatory Policy
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Comparing 2011 with 1937
In today’s article in Bloomberg View I explore reasons for the current weak recovery, and in particular whether there is an analogy with what happened in the recession of 1937-38 which interrupted the recovery from the Great Depression. Several charts … Continue reading
Posted in Slow Recovery
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Lessons From the Financial Crisis For Teaching Economics
Last week at Stanford the American Economic Association hosted its first conference ever on teaching economics. It was a great success and a second conference will be held in Boston next year, sponsored by the Journal of Economic Education (JEE). … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching Economics
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Economic and Political Leadership on the Budget
The Wall Street Journal’s headline for my article today In Praise of Debt Limit ‘Chicken’ nicely conveys the idea that linking a hike in the debt to a cut in spending—which pundits call a game of chicken—is not a game … Continue reading
Posted in Budget & Debt
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Taylor Rule Recommends Raising Rates
Over at Market Beat: WSJ.com’s inside look at the markets, Mark Gongloff reports that Standard Chartered’s David Semmens says that “Based on a strict Taylor-rule calculation, the first effective fed-funds rate increase shouldn’t come until the first quarter of 2013.” … Continue reading
Posted in Monetary Policy
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Economics One 