How Capitalism created modern motherhood..
25 May 2016 Leave a comment
This post appeared on Mother’s day. Nevertheless still an interesting read.
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Our slogan for the fall will be “Vote for the crook, It’s Important”
23 May 2016 Leave a comment
The Conservatives in the UK will be re-elected in 2020 on a similar slogan
In 1991, the two survivors of the “jungle primary” in the Louisiana governor’s race were Democrat Edwin “Slick Eddie” Edwards and Republican David “KKK Wizard” Duke. Or, as pundits put it, “the lizard versus the wizard”. For the next few weeks there were a whole lot of cars sporting *two* bumper stickers — the official Edwin Edwards for Governor bumper sticker, and the one above. The crook, of course, being Edwin Edwards, who did eventually get convicted of corruption and sent to prison, but only after his term of office was over.
Looking at the results of today’s party primaries, it looks like it’s about 90% certain that the Presidential nominees this fall will be Hillary Clinton and Donald “Mussolini Lite” Trump. That’s the way the numbers are adding up. It seems unlikely that Bernie Sanders will be able to take the remaining big states that he’d need to become…
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Keynesian 'multiplier' effects – no evidence
20 May 2016 Leave a comment
Our new research shows no evidence of a Keynesian ‘multiplier’ effect. There is evidence that tax cuts boost growth.
Harvard economist Robert Barro is one of the leading researchers on the empirical evidence for Keynesian ‘multiplier’ effects. Here is an Oct 1, 2009 Barro op-ed summarizing recent research. (This op-ed is based on a working paper issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research in September). Here is the introduction:
The global recession and financial crisis have refocused attention on government stimulus packages. These packages typically emphasize spending, predicated on the view that the expenditure “multipliers” are greater than one—so that gross domestic product expands by more than government spending itself. Stimulus packages typically also feature tax reductions, designed partly to boost consumer demand (by raising disposable income) and partly to stimulate work effort, production and investment (by lowering rates).
The existing empirical evidence on the response of real…
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Robert Barro interview
20 May 2016 Leave a comment
Harvard economist Robert Barro is one of my personal favorite resources on economic growth. He is also a student of fiscal policy and the Great Depression. The Barro interview at Five-Books.com is first rate. Excerpt:
So you?re not saying the New Deal was a mistake, you?re saying basically we don?t know.
One of the things I?ve been trying to do in my research is to calculate the effect, particularly on Gross Domestic Product, of government expenditure programs. And I?ve been focusing on the US experience, because that?s where I have the information, although it would be good to go beyond that. But the thing you can clearly isolate is the effect of wartime expenditure ? particularly World War Two ? it is so big that in a statistical sense it gives you a lot of power to figure out what is going on.
There?s both the build-up, starting in 1941…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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