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Blog
No stimulus is better than negative stimulus
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
Levy president appears on Fox among the hedgehogs
With apologies to Isaiah Berlin, here is the link.
Blog
Why creating social-sector jobs is a great idea
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 [...]
Press Release
Without Major Restructuring, the Euro Is Doomed, New Study from Levy Economics Institute Says
Blog
Cap and trade: a bearish outlook
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 [...]
Policy Notes No. 2
Global Central Bank Focus
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 realignments. According to Paul McCulley, PIMCO, front-loaded fiscal austerity would only add to that deflationary cocktail. This is why the market vigilantes are fleeing risk […]
Blog
Who are these guys?
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
A notable dissent
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 [...]
Public Policy Brief No. 113
Endgame for the Euro?
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 their means. Yet Greece has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the European Union (EU), and its social safety net is modest compared […]
Blog
A case for public direct employment
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
“Deficits Do Matter, But Not the Way You Think”
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
The promise and peril of regulation, Indian energy version
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 [...]