Author Archives: John Taylor
Linking the Debt Limit Hike To Spending Cuts Is Good Economics
For months now top economic officials in Washington have been arguing that the Congress should vote to increase the debt limit without any reductions in the growth of spending—in other words a “clean debt limit hike.” Just last Thursday Ben … Continue reading
Posted in Budget & Debt
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More on Seniors, Guns And Money
Paul Krugman returned to the debate with me about federal spending in his New York Times column yesterday. He says that federal spending cannot be brought back from its current high levels to the 19 to 20 percent range as … Continue reading
Posted in Fiscal Policy and Reforms
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The One Hundred Trillion Dollar Note and Other Visual Aids
Patrick McGroarty and Farai Mutsaka have a great article in the Wall Street Journal about this famous one hundred trillion dollar note from Zimbabwe,including the fact that I carry one around in my wallet everywhere I go. Whenever someone says … Continue reading
Posted in Monetary Policy
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Bringing Gadhafi’s Money to Rebels Recalls Bringing Saddam’s Money to Iraqis
The plan to use Moammar Gadhafi’s frozen assets to fund the Libyan rebels faces legal obstacles according to this weekend’s Wall Street Journal story “Obstacles Loom on Path To Funding Libyans.” This reminds me of the plan to use Saddam … Continue reading
Posted in International Economics
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New Study Questions Justification For Quantitative Easing
Proponents of Quantitative Easing frequently cite—inappropriately in my view—the Taylor Rule as support, saying that the rule calls for a federal funds rate as low as minus 6 percent, well below the zero bound. But in various pieces over the … Continue reading
Posted in Monetary Policy
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How to Avoid the New Bailout Authority
Title II of the Dodd-Frank bill, which creates a new orderly liquidation authority for financial institutions, has recently come under fierce attacks from a variety of perspectives. Paul Ryan writing in the Wall Street Journal on April 5 argues that … Continue reading
Posted in Financial Crisis
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A Morale Booster for the Financial Front Too
Anyone who has served in the military during the nearly ten years since 9/11 must feel a sense of closure with Bin Laden’s death. As Lindsay Wise writes in the Houston Chronicle “Bin Laden’s death is a dramatic morale booster … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching Economics
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YouTube Assignment for Macroeconomics Students
As a respite from comparing the “Keynesian cross” versus the “dynamic stochastic general equilibrium” model, watch this “Keynes” versus “Hayek” video with lyrics written by John Papola and my colleague Russ Roberts. But my favorite lines are more micro than … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching Economics
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Spending Rise Has Much To Do With Policy
The running debate between Paul Krugman and me is bringing more facts to bear on important budget and policy issues. Since I wrote my reply yesterday to Krugman’s criticism of my Wall Street Journal article, he has responded three times, … Continue reading
Posted in Fiscal Policy and Reforms
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Paul Krugman Versus Budget Facts
Yesterday Paul Krugman, citing Brad DeLong’s post earlier in the day, joined the commentary on my Wall Street Journal article of Friday which I further discussed in my blog of Sunday. Krugman takes issue with my statement that “Mr. Obama, … Continue reading
Posted in Budget & Debt
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Economics One 