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Working Paper No. 604Three Futures for Postcrisis Banking in the Americas
June 28, 2010 This would seem an opportune moment to reshape banking systems in the Americas. But any effort to rethink and improve banking must acknowledge three major barriers. The first is a...more Publication -
Public Policy Brief No. 112Η 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 -
BlogThe solidarity economy
June 25, 2010 There is no alternative to free-market capitalism, Margaret Thatcher used to say, and about this, like so many things, she was wrong. In fact a variety of alternatives are functioning quite well, and a number of them are succeeding by operating according to the principles of the Solidarity Economy. What is the Solidarity Economy? It’s [...] Blog -
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The heavy hand of regulation
June 25, 2010 Under the new financial reform measure hammered out by Congressional negotiators, mortgage lenders “will have to check borrowers’ income and assets.” Here it is, in black and white. A regular sea change. Blog -
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Round numbers
June 24, 2010 They stand out, don’t they? Things have been quiet in the Eurozone lately, but today the cost of insuring Greek government bonds set a new record by surging past $1 million (to cover $10 million for five years). The price is said to imply a 67 percent probability of default in the next five years. [...] Blog -
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Should tax credits for homebuyers be extended?
June 23, 2010 The clock is ticking and right now first-time buyers have to close the deal in six days. The incentive is sweet: up to $8,000 from Uncle Sam. The Internal Revenue Service reported that $12.6 billion was credited to 1.8 million home buyers (the final toll will be higher as transactions in 2010 have not been filed [...] Blog -
Working Paper No. 603
Does Excessive Sovereign Debt Really Hurt Growth?
June 18, 2010 The worst global downturn since the Great Depression has caused ballooning budget deficits in most nations, as tax revenues collapse and governments bail out financial institutions and attempt countercyclical fiscal...more Publication -
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Indecent exposure
June 18, 2010 The Bank for International Settlements has released its quarterly review (hat tip EconBrowser). In it, you will find an interesting graph on page 19 (or page 23 including cover pages), titled “Exposures to Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain by nationality of banks”. It’s reproduced here on the left (click on it for a larger view). [...] Blog -
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A phony war on spending
June 18, 2010 The Economist takes a look at European austerity plans and finds…not much. Substantial cuts are happening mainly in the smallest Eurozone countries. Overall the impact is slight, although of course cutting anything at all is still the opposite of stimulus. Blog -
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Interns and inequality
June 18, 2010 Levy public policy scholar Daniel Akst argues in this op-ed that the rise of unpaid internships is exacerbating income inequality. These internships are perceived to offer important professional experience and contacts. Yet young people without money can’t afford to take them, which means kids without money are at a further disadvantage in applying later for [...] Blog -
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It’s not about the money
June 16, 2010 About a year ago, supply-side economist Arthur Laffer (known for the “Laffer curve,” a graph that depicted tax revenue first rising, then falling as tax rates increased) published an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal predicting sharply higher inflation and nominal interest rates over the next four to five years. The justification given for [...] Blog -
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Solidarity in book form
June 15, 2010 Levy research scholar Thomas Masterson has co-edited a new book about the Solidarity Economy, a form of economic organization that emphasizes cooperation over competition and communal well-being over individual gain. From the back cover: “So many of us wish for something more, something different—an economy that we can feel a part of, not that makes [...] Blog -
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A spectre is haunting Europe
June 15, 2010 This posting is by Levy senior scholar Philip Arestis, University of Cambridge and University of the Basque Country, and Theodore Pelagidis, European Institute, London School of Economics and University of Piraeus. A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of austerity. All the powers of old Europe have entered into an unholy alliance to exercise this spectre, [...] Blog -
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Forget about deficits. Fix the banks
June 15, 2010 Levy senior scholar James K. Galbraith argues in the Los Angeles Times this morning that deficit hawks are pursuing the wrong prey. In a nutshell: The real cause of our deficits and rising public debt is our broken banking system. The debts our economic leaders deplore were largely due to the collapse of private credit, [...] Blog -
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Wynne Godley, continued
June 14, 2010 The Economist’s obituary for the late Wynne Godley generated a couple of worthwhile letters. A key passage: Your obituary of Wynne Godley (May 29th) did an injustice to his considerable intellectual achievements in macroeconomics and his courage in going against the orthodoxy that has ruled the economics profession for the past three decades. You can read [...] Blog -
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Review: Plumbing the Squam Lake Report
June 14, 2010 The Squam Lake Report (Princeton University Press) is a set of recommendations by 15 leading economists on reforming the financial system. Considering the magnitude of the recent financial crisis, it is surprising how little change the book proposes. Certainly, the first step in devising a set of recommendations for reform is to understand what went [...] Blog -
Working Paper No. 602
Fiscal Responsibility: What Exactly Does It Mean?
June 11, 2010 The use of government fiscal stimulus to support the economy in the recent economic crisis has brought increases in government deficits and increased government debt. This has produced an interest...more Publication -
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Greek default widely expected
June 09, 2010 Bloomberg polled international subscribers to its Bloomberg Professional Service and found that 73 percent expect a Greek default. These subscribers are described as decision-makers in finance, economics etc. The full story is here. You can also read the poll and results for yourself by clicking on the “attachment” tab at the top of the window. [...] Blog -
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Wynne Godley was right
June 09, 2010 In a sobering column in the Financial Times, Edward Chancellor reminds us that the late Wynne Godley was right in predicting that large private deficits in the U.S. would lead to trouble–and that the Eurozone, when it was formed, might become a tragic disinflationary trap. The end of the column is particularly noteworthy: He went [...] Blog -
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When do deficits matter?
June 08, 2010 Nervous financial markets and waves of fiscal austerity spreading across Europe raise an important question: when does a country’s budget deficit become a problem? The easy answer, of course, is that a deficit is too large when it can no longer be financed. But by that time it’s too late, so it’s important to ask [...] Blog -
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Maybe Keynes hasn’t been translated yet
June 08, 2010 The Germans too are embarking on a fiscal austerity program, and consumers aren’t spending there either. Blog -
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Austerity Britain
June 07, 2010 David Cameron, the new PM, warns that the nation’s fiscal hole is even deeper than it seemed, and that savage spending cuts will be required. An important union leader calls Cameron’s speech “a chilling attack on the public sector, public sector workers, the poor, the sick and the vulnerable.” The full (and sobering) story is [...] Blog -
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Men not working
June 04, 2010 The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its May employment situation report today and the news was mostly grim. Sure, unemployment dropped to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent. But don’t get too excited, because almost all the new jobs created in May were for census-takers, and these folks will be unemployed again soon. In more bad [...] Blog -
Working Paper No. 601
Too Big to Fail in Financial Crisis
June 04, 2010 Regulatory forbearance and government financial support for the largest US financial companies during the crisis of 2007–09 highlighted a "too big to fail" problem that has existed for decades. As...more Publication