More on eclecticism
“Experience has shown that Mother Nature is eclectic”
- Paul Samuelson
This recent blog on the merits of eclecticism in macroeconomics seems to have resonated. It follows a theme Dani Rodrik has advocate...
Paul Krugman is right – our models may be better than Larry’s instincts
The debate between Larry Summers, Brad DeLong and Paul Krugman over models and confidence is summarised excellently by Martin Sandbu. On one point, Krugman is absolutely right: there was never any reason to be ...
The case for eclecticism
Most macroeconomists have a mental model of how the economy works. I think there are five relevant mental frameworks:
Keynesian. This is the approach that most people are taught in high school and un...
Reply to Brad (Part II) – Pigou, Haberler, Friedman v Hicks, Hansen, Krugman
I agree with Brad DeLong that Paul Krugman has correctly diagnosed most of the big global economic calls since the mid-1990s. My beef is with his policy prescription.
The issue at stake is how to get out of a ...
Keynes and Friedman are always right: a reply to DeLong & Krugman
Brad DeLong has an interesting rule of thumb: if you want to understand the economy since the mid-1990s, Paul Krugman is always right. And if you ever think he's wrong ... Don't.
I disagree, and a detour into ...
The “Pigou effect” is smarter than you think, and more relevant than ever
I was taught to dismiss the Pigou effect. Arthur Cecil Pigou (or “Pig” if you believe spell-check) was a great Cambridge economic theorist, known to most of us as the object of Keynes’s repeated ridicule in the...
Was Milton Friedman the last economist?
Macroeconomics can lead policy-making or it can follow it. Since Milton Friedman, and Robert Lucas, it has been following.
Friedman was an important macroeconomist because he diagnosed what was failing in the ...
Foreign Affairs: print less, transfer more
In Foreign Affairs, Mark Blyth and I map out a plan to end recessions and broaden equity ownership - without raising taxes. Read the full article here....