Category Archives: Fiscal Policy and Reforms
The Impact of the Pandemic and Lasting Lessons for Teaching Economics
Yesterday, I gave a keynote talk at the tenth American Economic Association Conference on Teaching and Research in Economic Education (CTREE). I have been teaching economics for 53 years. I love teaching economics. I love researching economics. And I love … Continue reading
Electronic-Commerce, Non-Store Sales and the Pandemic
Last week at the American Economic Association meetings, held online, many papers focused on Covid-19. A good example was the session organized by Dominick Salvatore which included Jan Eberly, Raghu Rajan, Carmen Reinhart, Joe Stiglitz, Larry Summers, and me. Most … Continue reading
Bridge Both the In-Person and the On-Line Educational Divides
In a new Policy Brief just released by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Jack Mallery and I show that In-person and online learning go together Yes, America must prioritize in-person K-12 elementary and secondary schools as soon as … Continue reading
Keep Those Remittance Flows Going
The importance of remittance flows to low and middle income countries is the subject of an important recent tweet from William Easterly @bill_easterly. His tweet includes this amazing chart: What is most striking about the chart is the sharp increase … Continue reading
All Fireworks Shows Cancelled in Bay Area
Yes. That’s the San Francisco Chronicle digital headline, and it’s true all over the United States of America, with some exceptions like Mount Rushmore last night and DC tonight. Back in 2010, I started writing on each July 4th about … Continue reading
Macroeconomic Modelling of Pandemics at Warp Speed
A pressing research issue with deep policy relevance concerns how econometric models should be adapted, changed, or modified in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. A new Webinar series–Macroeconomic Modelling and Pandemics–has been created to examine this issue, to exchange views … Continue reading
Structural, Not Cyclical, Budget Reform
Today I published a column in Project Syndicate on fiscal policy. I am positive about pro-growth effects of the tax reform in the 2017 tax act and of the greater use of cost-benefit analysis in the recent regulatory reform effort. … Continue reading
A Decade of July 4th Debt Explosions: Are They Getting Less Spectacular?
Starting a decade ago, I’ve charted on Independence Day the most recent long-term projection of the federal debt by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Over the years the chart has continued to look much like the Fourth of July fireworks, … Continue reading
Take Off the Muzzle and the Economy Will Roar
In his Saturday Wall Street Journal essay “Why the Economy Doesn’t Roar Anymore”—illustrated with a big lion with its mouth shut—Marc Levinson offers the answer that the “U.S. economy isn’t behaving badly. It is just being ordinary.” But there is … Continue reading
Novel Research on Elections, Policymaking, Economic Uncertainty
The Becker Friedman Institute of the University of Chicago and the Hoover Institution of Stanford University teamed up yesterday to put on a Conference on Elections, Policymaking, and Economic Uncertainty. The conference was held at the Hoover Institution Offices in … Continue reading
Economics One 