Fools and scoundrels
“If anyone tries to tell you that uncertainty about climate change is a reason for inaction, he’s either a fool or a scoundrel. Probably a bit of both.” ~ Mark Kleiman Kleiman makes a...
Category: Economics
the things people say
Riffing off my last post, I’d like to take on two thoughts. First, here’s Yglesias:
Weak Become Heroes
Via Sociological Images is this pretty awesome “pro-capitalist” propaganda cartoon from 1948: The Miller Center of Public Affairs (my employer) is holding a conference on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin...
Free Trade and Taxes – Denmark Edition
Matt Yglesias is in Denmark. I can sort of travel vicariously by blogging about Denmark as well, so here we go…. Not surprisingly, the Danes have very high taxes: The overwhelming fact about Danish...
How do those Northern Europeans do it?
Responding to Ross Douthat’s latest column, Jamelle raises an interesting question: And finally, I wonder how Douthat explains away Northern Europe’s high economic growth rates and robust welfare states? I’m no economist, but I...
Richard Posner, Keynesian
Richard Posner has an interesting essay on John Maynard Keynes in The New Republic. I’m still trying to untangle all the various ideas and contradictions implicit in this economic downturn. There are many competing...
Sensible Observations
One of the nice things about transitioning out of academic life and into professional life (if only temporarily) is that I suddenly have a surfeit of leisure time, and among other things, I’m using...
the unintended consequences of economic populism
“POPULIST, n. A fossil patriot of the early agricultural period, found in the old red soapstone underlying Kansas; characterized by an uncommon spread of ear, which some naturalists contend gave him the power of...
not the Europe we had in mind
Matt Yglesias points us to this chart, which is depressing enough on its own: Then, both he and Kevin Drum, go on to point out that job losses are likely going to be long-term....
On Safety Nets
“By treating any and all social safety nets as irreversible steps on the Road to Serfdom, we allow liberals and progressives to shape those policies in ways that are inefficient, ineffective, and overbroad –...
Top 25 Econoblogs
The Wall Street Journal lists them so you don’t have to (with oddly tiny pictures and even more oddly cramped descriptions. It’s almost as though whoever designed the slideshow was working on a very...
Correctly Political: “Corner”ing the Market in Catholic teaching
~by jfxgillis I. Now and Then and Now Pope Benedict XVI issued an encyclical this week expressing Church doctrine with respect to the global political economy. I knew it would be described in the...
Understanding Markets
E.D. thinks that market economics don’t apply to education. Chris disagrees, but thinks that market economics ultimately are about controlling people and inevitably creates – specifically in the realm of education – a form...
The New Face of Empire
Then again, simply because the United States ceased to be a ‘real’ republic does not mean that it ever became an empire. Of course, the United States did become an empire, complete with colonies,...
even this ship needs steering
Via Andrew, Felix Salmon pokes holes in a list of necessary reforms from Nassim Taleb: Taleb’s first principle is that “nothing should ever become too big to fail”. But all economies have too-big-to-fail institutions;...
Working with what we’ve got….
I’m sure I’ve run this course long enough. I’ve been in constant contemplation of the merits of the individual vs. the community. I’ve written endlessly about the subject and read a good deal on...
A Critique of the System, or: A Fool and his Money….
I think what many mainstream defenders of Geithner or the rescue plan don’t realize is that critics of the plan are not always merely partisan hacks out with a political agenda. Some of us...
Two Individualisms
The discussion surrounding community, individualism, materialism, and the current economic and political crisis is anything but a discussion of perfect definitions or easy answers, and much of it is lodged only in vague theoretical...
Geithner’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Bank Plan
This is my third financial/economic/treasury round-up. I am not an expert in these matters so what I’ve been trying to do is bring some expert voices to the League in order to better flesh...
Some Helpful Explanations
Via Br. Dave, probably the best, simplest explanation of the credit crisis I’ve seen thus far. It doesn’t go terribly deep, and leaves out a lot, but it gives a great visual summary of...
