Weekend Papers, Part IV: Policy Matters…A Lot
[Uh-oh—the sun is out and I really have no excuse for not digging up weeds and pruning bushes. So let me be brief here.] I found this piece on different rates of job growth in different countries to be an interesting survey but it somehow skirted a central point, perhaps because it’s so obvious that it doesn’t [...]
The China Dance: It Ain’t No One Step
I found this long critique of Chinese expansionary economics in this AMs NYT to be pretty misguided. Lots of good info and the authors did their homework, but their core thesis seemed wrong to me in the following ways: –I don’t agree with the assertion that “Beijing’s essentially unlimited financial resources” support China’s pursuit of [...]
China Rebalancing State and Market Forces? Watch the Power
Though many of my arguments for the US economy argue for a larger government role, when it comes to China, I found this to be a hopeful development for China. In a bold speech to party cadres, the country’s new prime minister, Li Keqiang, said this month that the central government would reduce the state’s [...]
Manufacturing, Unions, Full Employment and Other Cool Stuff
Here’s an interesting piece by my pal Lane Kenworthy on lots of stuff I go on about in these parts. Many good insights but a few parts in which I see things differently, one of which is very important to our respective views of the way out of the inequality/wage-stagnation cul-de-sac. His theory of the [...]
Talking Growth on Squawk
Had great fun guest-hosting on CNBC’s Squawk Box this AM. In one segment, we all whipped around talking about what it would take to move from 2% growth to 4% growth (and we may not even be at 2% right now; probably more like 1.5%). As expected, there were quite divergent views and as even [...]
A Reminder Why Protecting Social Security Is So Important
Take a look at this useful set of pictures from the BLS on the not-very-healthful status of defined benefit (DB) private pension plans in America today (DB pensions provide guaranteed, periodic payments in retirement). A quick glance led me to believe that these data points should be a front-and-center defense against those who would cut [...]
The New Treasury Secretary Must Have a New Client
Masterful piece of writing in today’s NYT by editorial board member Teresa Tritch on the job description of the new Treasury secretary. Secretary Geithner was met at the door in January of 2009 by a financial market meltdown and correctly undertook reversing that as his first job. As the figures below reveal—graphs I’ve chosen to [...]
The IMF on Capital Controls: Washing Out the Shampoo Economy
OTE readers know I worry about the advent of the “shampoo economy:” bubble, bust, repeat. The last few business cycles both here and in other advanced economies have been characterized by this pattern. To be clear, economies are cyclical…that’s a given. But nowhere is it written—well, outside of Minsky—that the cycles have to be driven [...]
Presidential Debate #3: Foreign Policy
Pre-debate thoughts: The commander-in-chief is assumed to have an edge in a foreign policy debate but the world has become a more complicated place, even in recent weeks, and President Obama has typically been careful not to articulate a sweeping “Obama doctrine.” His approach has been more pragmatic, evaluating America’s interests case-by-case and clearly not [...]
Jared Bernstein’s areas of expertise include federal and state economic and fiscal policies, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, international comparisons, and the analysis of financial and housing markets.
