Economics

Simon Wren-Lewis: Populism and the media: This could be the subtitle of the talk I will be giving later today. I will have more to say in later posts, plus a link to the full text..., but I thought I would make this important point here about why I keep going on about the media. In thinking about Brexit and Trump, talking about the media is not in competition with talking about disenchantment over globalisation and de-industrialisation, but a complement to it. I don’t blame the media for this disenchantment, which is real enough, but for the fact that it is leading people to make choices which are clearly bad for society as a whole, and in many cases will actually make them worse off. They are choices...

Ellyn Terry at the Atlanta Fed's macroblog: Outside Looking In: Why Has Labor Force Participation Increased?: The labor force participation rate (LFPR) is an estimate of the share of the population actively engaged in the labor market. The LFPR has increased about 30 basis points over the past year (from the third quarter of 2015 to the third quarter of 2016)—a modest reversal in the precipitous decline in the LFPR that began in 2008. What accounts for this stabilization and—given the demographic and cyclical forces in play—how much longer can it last? The following is perspective through the lens of the reasons people give for not participating in the labor force. Perhaps the component most...

<ul> <li> Donald Trump and the Sense of Power - Robert J. Shiller</li> <li>When Did Americans Stop Being Antimonopoly? Q&A - ProMarket</li> <li> Most sweeping change in currency policy in decades�- Sarin and Summers</li> <li> Janet Yellen Doesn&#39;t Know What Determines Inflation - Tim Taylor</li> <li> The Uncertain Benefits of GMO Labeling - RegBlog</li> <li>Future challenges of financial regulation - VoxEU</li> <li> Longer-Term Challenges for the U.S. Economy - Stanley Fischer</li> <li> The Theory of Credit and Macro-economic Stability - NBER</li> <li> An Analysis of the Labor Market for Uber&#39;s Driver-Partners - NBER</li> <li> Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory - NBER</li> <li> Why not worker-directors? - Stumbling and Mumbling</li> <li> ‘Metrics Monday: How to Think About Selection -...</li></ul>

Olivier Blanchard: What Size Fiscal Deficits for the United States: The US government can borrow at interest rates very close to zero. Surely the long-term benefits of public investment are greater than zero. Isn’t it obvious that the case for more government borrowing is overwhelming...? The answer? Not so fast. True, US government borrowing costs are very low. ... True, if the economy were operating far below potential, the case for large deficits would then be a very strong one. Surely public investment should be increased and financed by debt under such circumstances. ... So is it an open and shut case? No. The US economy is operating close to its potential..., we are close to full employment....

I have a new column: The Political Winds in Economics: In recent years, much has been written about how the economics profession is drifting to the left. For example, Noah Smith�writes:� “…almost all of the most prominent economists in the public sphere -- Paul Krugman, Summers, Thomas Piketty, and the rest -- lean to the left, and lean significantly�more�to the left than in years past. Conservative economists are largely hiding out in academia…”� But like Noah, I am skeptical that this represents a permanent change. ...