Politicians place too much emphasis on foreigners re international trade issues, instead of focusing on domestic issues which are vital for a nation's economic health.
Scott Sumner provides highlights from a new paper on NGDPLT, by David Beckworth.
Tight labour markets have helped low end wages.
Just the same,
"Falling labor demand for non-college-educated workers has weakened the returns to work and lowered labor force participation for many workers."
Waste in healthcare isn't a new problem.
Perhaps waste reduction isn't interesting enough to be a priority. (A JAMA network perspective)
Three forces shaping the world (Morgan Housel)
"It's almost certain that the educational system will be upended. The current arrangement of needing a college degree in order to have a good chance at becoming and staying middle class, but taking on life-changing amounts of debt to do so if you don't have family assistance, can't last."
A baby boomer contemplates the fact millennials aren't particularly concerned by the national debt.
The return of regional divergence (Krugman) He stresses how strong this divergence actually is, and the fact that policy can't reverse it.
Martin Weitzman changed Tim Harford's thinking on climate change.
"A calendar is more than the organization of days and months. It's the blueprint for a shared life."
Andrew McAfee found, to his surprise, that the U.S. is now taking a less materialistic path in the use of many resources. While this is certainly good news, I still have to wonder, how much this circumstance might be arbitrarily imposed, since many people forego a lot of material consumption when they don't also own traditional housing and transportation means. Plus, some individuals understandably voice anti-materialist sentiments as personal choice (rather than financial necessity), for this ownership anomaly now goes well beyond lower income levels.
Bloomberg debates the possibility of world recession.
What happens to national debt over time, if the rate of interest is less than the GDP growth rate?
"Democracy on a Knife-Edge"
The next recession is likely to be met with a fiscal approach which includes more debt. How much of this might morph into MMT rationale?
Alex Tabarrok provides numerous links for this year's Nobel winners (Banerjee, Duflo and Kremer)
Two more from Tyler Cowen, here and here.
Also a contribution from the blog "A Fine Theorem".
This paper from Michael Kremer is "a hit among students".
Olivier Blanchard suggests a nominal wage target.
David Beckworth recently edited a book on Allan Meltzer's life work.
Corruption can be difficult to uproot, when the process becomes a top down witch hunt against a government's political opponents.
George Selgin responds to a revised criticism of NGDP targeting from Lars Svensson.
Non profit hospitals are also driving up the cost of healthcare.
Final thoughts from Alice Rivlin, on healing divisions in America.
Diane Coyle reviews Productivity Machines
Democratic presidential candidates have not given enough consideration to changing workplace realities. Specifically, what's lacking in "talent development ecosystems". And, "Many of the candidates' proposals merely extend the status quo."
Miles Kimball highlights this LSE blogpost:
Perhaps economists are simply more inclined to use Twitter to communicate with one another, rather than the public. Sometimes economists seem to have given up on the latter, especially since political dialogue has grown more strident. Yet one can't help but wonder: Which is cause, and which is effect?
1550 to 1650 could have been the crucial century.
Despite the understandable angst, we will struggle to get past our current disillusionment with "lousy jobs" until we make our time more valuable for one another on economic terms.
The best defense against Trump is to refuse to be tribal.
Even though average U.S. rent was "too damn high" in 2017, it went even higher in 2018.
"Long-Term Macroeconomic Effects of Climate Change: A Cross-Country Analysis"
"The top 50% pays almost all the federal income tax."
"Srinivas Thiruvadanthai on the Sectoral Financial Balance Approach to Macroeconomics"
"...startup community building is a lot of guesswork and trial-and-error. It requires curiosity, humility, an informed intuition, and a general comfort with not having all of the answers."
Cardiff Garcia takes the interviewer role on this Macro Musings podcast, to talk with David Beckworth about NGDP targeting.
Sarah Skwire provides a list of what essentially boils down to "you may be a crackpot economist if..." Oddly, a certain amount of pride (what, no shame?) goes with these descriptions! Hence her post reminded me of a classic song lyric from "You're So Vain", "I bet you think this song is about you."
How susceptible are we to "neuromyths"?
The Week staff provides historical perspective for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson
How will increasing services dominance play out in international trade?
Update on a synchronized stagnation.
J.W. Mason looks at the implications of downward revisions in interest rates.
NPR interviews surgeon Marty Makary
The Fed is gradually moving towards a market based approach - one which may help the U.S. avoid recession in the near future.
"Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor"
A season of discontent is underway.
Diane Coyle reviews Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control
Morris Kleiner and Evan Soltas argue that the welfare costs of occupational licensing are higher than the actual benefits.
Airbnb is changing Himalayan villages.
A consideration of real wage factors for inequality over time.
Is there an optimal response to the California power company blackouts? Plus scroll past the trolls for useful comments which reveal the complexity of this issue.
Childcare has become one of the main time/resource coordination dilemmas of our era.
Even though 63 percent of full time workers find childcare costs prohibitive, one daycare manager explains that she actually loses money "on every infant and 2-year-old in her care".
The first Five Books interview ten years earlier with Robert Barro, on the lessons of the Great Depression.
Tyler Cowen recommends a job market paper which highlights downward rigidity in wages for new hires.
The trend rate of growth is (surprisingly) strong. But can it last?
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