The Best of Brexit
The Best of Brexit
Perhaps the best thing to have come out of Brexit has been the writing. So here is a collection of my personal favourites. There are serious omissions - so feel free to suggest additions i...
Old myths, new problems – interpreting a British referendum
The myth of national identity
One consequence of the end of the Cold War was the re-emergence of nationalism in European politics. It was not the “End of History”, but reversion to the mean.
Nationalism is...
Buffett v the Landesbank – the US gets paid to have a trade deficit
It remains conventional wisdom that the US current account deficit is the accumulation of a debt that will one day need to be repaid. There are very good reasons to believe this is false. The US in fact has ne...
The economics of language: David Hume & valuing Facebook
David Hume is the first great thinker to identify language, law and money as 'spontaneous' institutions of social organisation. Hume was on to something quite profound, which remains under-appreciated.
Langu...
Accounting as religion: Buffett, Derrida, and MMT
A number of my recent posts seem to have wound up some of the more sensitive ‘mainstream’ economists, who don't like the suggestion that the likes of Minsky deserve their own 'school’. Some philosophers of sc...
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 ...