That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, I thought it was time to call out all the Orwellian rewriting of intellectual history going on, so here goes: As Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week: “So many economists were saying there’s no way for inflation to get back to normal without it entailing a […]
How Were So Many Economists So Wrong About the Recession?
How Were So Many Economists So Wrong About the Recession?
30 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, labour economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, unemployment Tags: monetary policy
30 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, health economics Tags: child mortality, life expectancies, The Great Enrichment, The Great Escape

📸 Look at this post on Facebook
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The Worst Journalism of 2023
29 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, development economics, economic history, fiscal policy, growth disasters, macroeconomics, monetarism, monetary economics Tags: Argentina

Writing about the economic tragedy of Argentina, I’ve explained that one major problem is inflation, thanks to that country’s version of “modern monetary theory.” This is not a trivial problem. Here’s a chart, from a recent report by Reuters, showing how prices have been rising for nearly 10 years and skyrocketing for the past three […]
The Worst Journalism of 2023
190308 [Webinar] Consistent Economic Policy and Economic Development
29 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, defence economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of information, Euro crisis, fiscal policy, fisheries economics, global financial crisis (GFC), great recession, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, inflation targeting, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, monetary economics, Public Choice, public economics, unemployment
Friedman and Schwartz agreed with Anderson, Tollison and Shughart on the public choice origins of the Great Contraction!
28 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, business cycles, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, great depression, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, Milton Friedman, monetarism, monetary economics, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: monetary policy



The Great Enrichment
28 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles, health economics Tags: child mortality, life expectancies, The Great Escape

📸 Look at this post on Facebook
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#OTD
26 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, Public Choice Tags: fall of communism

Hottest In 125,000 Years?
26 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economic history, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming
Anybody who claims that this year is the hottest for 125,000 years is fraudulent.
Hottest In 125,000 Years?
Christmas Day 1066. William the Conqueror is crowned King of the English
26 Dec 2023 1 Comment
in economic history Tags: British history
Exactly when did Duke William II “The Conqueror” of Normandy become King of the English? Although he certainly became the De Facto King of the English when he defeated King Harold II Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in October of 1066, it was not until his coronation on Christmas Day of that year did […]
Christmas Day 1066. William the Conqueror is crowned King of the English
#OTD Romania
25 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: Romania

Corporate Taxation, Ireland, and Jealousy
24 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, macroeconomics, public economics Tags: Ireland, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment

Two months ago, I wrote about a remarkable example of the Laffer Curve, involving Ireland’s low 12.5 percent corporate tax rate. According to the New York Times, Ireland was collecting so much corporate tax revenue that the government was having a hard time figuring out what to do with all the money (as you might […]
Corporate Taxation, Ireland, and Jealousy
FMI Public Speaker Series – Finn Kydland
23 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, fiscal policy, global financial crisis (GFC), great depression, great recession, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking
Finn E. Kydland Nobel Lecture at CERGE-EI
22 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, global financial crisis (GFC), great depression, great recession, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, monetary economics, Public Choice, public economics
Unconvincing
21 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, global financial crisis (GFC), great recession, history of economic thought, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: monetary policy

The Herald ran an op-ed yesterday under the heading “Why the Government’s new Reserve Bank mandate may lead to worse outcomes”. It was written by Toby Moore who served as an economic adviser in Grant Robertson’s office while he was Minister of Finance (a fact the Herald chose not to disclose to its readers). I’m more […]
Unconvincing
Central Banking and the Real-Bills Doctrine
21 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economic history, financial economics, great depression, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, monetary economics Tags: monetary policy
Robert Hetzel, a distinguished historian of monetary theory and of monetary institutions, deployed his expertise in both fields in his recent The Federal Reserve: A New History. Hetzel’s theoretical point departure is that the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 effectively replaced the pre-World War I gold standard, in which the value […]
Central Banking and the Real-Bills Doctrine
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