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BlogAnother call for social-sector jobs
August 01, 2010 In a New York Times column, Yale’s Robert Shiller calls for a federal effort to battle unemployment by creating precisely the kind of socially beneficial jobs that some Levy Institute scholars have been recommending: Why not use government policy to directly create jobs — labor-intensive service jobs in fields like education, public health and safety, [...] Blog -
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Property rules
July 30, 2010 Are we a nation of property owners? Michael Barone, of the American Enterprise Institute, says we are: The fact is that we are once again, as in the days of the early republic and not in the heyday of the Progressives and the New Dealers, a republic of property owners. Most Americans have accumulated — [...] Blog -
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No stimulus is better than negative stimulus
July 27, 2010 In the Wall Street Journal, Stanford’s Robert Hall tells Jon Hilsenrath that last year’s stimulus just about made up for the cuts in state and local government spending forced by the recession (most states have balanced budget requirements, so when tax revenues dip, as they do in a recession, spending must follow). So, there was [...] Blog -
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Levy president appears on Fox among the hedgehogs
July 27, 2010 With apologies to Isaiah Berlin, here is the link. Blog -
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Why creating social-sector jobs is a great idea
July 27, 2010 Writing for the New York Times Economix blog, Nancy Folbre of the University of Massachusetts cites the work of Levy Institute economists in suggesting that Uncle Sam fund more home-care jobs: Four economists at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College – Rania Antonopoulos, Kijong Kim, Thomas Masterson and Ajit Zacharias – have published a policy [...] Blog -
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Cap and trade: a bearish outlook
July 23, 2010 Two news articles from McClatchy that arrived back-to-back in my feed-reader make for an unfortunate combination. The first, detailing the Senate's abdication of responsibility on global warming, is depressing enough. The second story is about increased Polar Bear sightings at the mouth of the Yukon River in Alaska. The irony speaks for itself. But I [...] Blog -
Policy Note No. 2Global Central Bank Focus
July 22, 2010 The developed world faces a cyclical deficiency of aggregate demand, the product of a liquidity trap and the paradox of thrift, in the context of headwinds born of ongoing structural...more Publication -
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Who are these guys?
July 21, 2010 I seem to remember that there used to be a column in a magazine featuring contradictory newspaper headlines. One headline might say, “Fed Chair Says Interest Rates Likely to Rise,” while another in a different newspaper from the very same day would insist, “Fed Chair Says Interest Rates Likely to Fall.” Something like this appears [...] Blog -
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A notable dissent
July 21, 2010 A number of prominent economists have signed a letter calling for more economic stimulus from the United States government in order to put people back to work. Levy senior scholar James K. Galbraith and two other well-known Keynesians chose not to participate, and issued this comment explaining why. A statement from Paul Davidson, James Galbraith and [...] Blog -
Public Policy Brief No. 113Endgame for the Euro?
July 21, 2010 Critics argue that the current crisis has exposed the profligacy of the Greek government and its citizens, who are stubbornly fighting proposed social spending cuts and refusing to live within...more Publication -
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A case for public direct employment
July 21, 2010 A recent New York Times article highlighted the inadequacy of job training programs in the face of massive unemployment. The programs do not reflect the demand for highly skilled workers, such as those who can handle high-tech equipment and service jet engines. Even highly regarded programs have less than a 60 percent job placement rate. [...] Blog -
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“Deficits Do Matter, But Not the Way You Think”
July 21, 2010 That’s the headline for a defense of Modern Money Theory by Levy senior scholar L. Randall Wray, who complains that “even deficit doves like Paul Krugman, who favor more stimulus now, are fretting about “structural deficits” in the future.” Wray goes on to say: There is an alternative view propounded by economists following what has [...] Blog -
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The promise and peril of regulation, Indian energy version
July 20, 2010 Aside from the new symbol adopted for the rupee, the big economic news in India lately is the national government’s deregulation of petroleum prices. In the face of rising food prices, naturally there are concerns about whether deregulated (read: higher) oil prices will fuel inflation. Is this policy not anti-poor? What will happen if oil [...] Blog -
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A grand bargain
July 19, 2010 In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, Princeton’s Alan Blinder suggests a way to increase fiscal stimulus, deliver aid to those who need it most and avoid increasing federal deficits–all at the same time. Here’s his plan, in his own words: Let the upper-income tax cuts expire on schedule at year end. That would save the [...] Blog -
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Are deficits EVER a problem?
July 18, 2010 Paul Krugman and James K. Galbraith agree that this is a time for fiscal stimulus, not austerity. But they differ on a larger question: do government deficits ever matter? Or is the government so special–by virtue of its ability to create money out of thin air–that its spending can exceed income forever, by any amount? In [...] Blog -
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School matters (and so does school spending)
July 16, 2010 The Harlem Children’s Zone is an organization bent on addressing all the problems of poor families in its Manhattan catchment area. The project involves many government and nonprofit programs and services that aim to improve the environment for disadvantaged kids outside of school. Established in 1997, it also includes a network of charter schools called, [...] Blog -
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A good mood based on a bad policy
July 16, 2010 The sudden turn in the mood in Europe regarding the prospects of the global economy needs commenting. In this context, most European governments announced drastic cuts in government expenses in an effort to avoid following Greece to the precipice of default. It coincides with the outcome of the G20 deliberations a few days ago that [...] Blog -
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We’ve had the tragedy. Is this the farce?
July 15, 2010 The Wall Street Journal reports on signs that risky lending is once again on the upswing. For example: Credit-card issuers mailed 84.8 million offers of plastic to U.S. subprime borrowers in the first six months of this year, up from 43.7 million a year earlier, estimates research firm Synovate. Nearly 8% of loans for new [...] Blog -
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A Greek glimmer
July 13, 2010 A Wall Street Journal “Heard on the Street” item plays up the early good news from Greece’s austerity program: In the first half, Greece’s budget deficit came in at €9.6 billion, down 46% from the same period of 2009, the Finance Ministry said this week. Revenues rose 7.2%, while spending fell by 12.8%. Revenue growth [...] Blog -
Policy Note No. 1
Economic Policy for the Real World
July 12, 2010 The nation’s economic challenges are daunting. Restoring robust American prosperity and widespread economic opportunity will not be easy. But, as Hyman Minsky stressed, “Economic systems are not natural systems…. Policy...more Publication -
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Better treatment for R&D?
July 01, 2010 A post in the Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog notes that counting research and development as investment rather than as an expense would have increased gross domestic product by 2.7 percent between 1998 and 2007 (they refer to new numbers from the BEA). If this were standard national accounting practice, then measured GDP would [...] Blog -
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How did Greece get into this mess?
June 30, 2010 People often say that the problem in Greece is profligacy. Greece, the story goes, is a nation living beyond its means. Reading the press, in fact, one gets the impression that Greeks must enjoy one of the highest standards of living in Europe while making the frugal Germans pick up the tab. In reality, Greece [...] Blog -
Working Paper No. 605Detecting Ponzi Finance
June 29, 2010 Different frameworks of analysis lead to different conceptions of financial instability and financial fragility. On one side, the static approach conceptualizes financial instability as an unfortunate byproduct of capitalism that...more Publication -
Public Policy Brief No. 112
Η μεγάλη κρίση και η αμερικανική αντίδραση
June 28, 2010 Ο Ανώτατος Μελετητής James K. Galbraith εξετάζει κριτικά την ψευδαίσθηση του να βλέ̟πει κανείς την οικονομία των ΗΠΑ μέσα από το πρίσμα της ελεύθερης αγοράς, της α̟πορρύθμισης, των ιδιωτικο̟ποιήσεων και...more Publication