Americans are justifiably confused by what they hear from economists. On one hand they are repeatedly told that America has a saving shortage problem and it must increase national saving. On the other hand, no sooner do households increase saving and reduce consumption, economists start worrying about recession and possible need to lower interest rates to maintain spending. (more…)
Archive for January, 2006
Debunking the Saving Shortage Theory of the Trade Deficit
Monday, January 30th, 2006Back to Basics: Progressive Economics for the 21st Century
Wednesday, January 18th, 2006Many Americans have rightly identified China, uncontrolled trade deficits, and Wal-Mart style competition as looming threats to the American economy. However, they remain hard-pressed countering the free market/free trade story of mainstream economists that these are all for America’s long run benefit. (more…)
Export-led Growth: The Elephant in the Room
Friday, January 13th, 2006Psychologists refer to the “elephant in the room†phenomenon as a condition where people talk about everything except the most important issue. I recently (January 10, 2006) attended a conference at Washington’s prestigious Institute for International Economics on the likelihood of a financial crisis in developing countries. All morning the elephant sat quietly in the room sipping coffee. (more…)
Silent Spring: How the Democrats lost their Economic Policy Voice
Thursday, January 5th, 2006In 1962 Rachel Carson published her environmental epic, Silent Spring, which documented how chemical-based agriculture was killing the bird-life and birdsong of America’s countryside. Over the last forty years the Democratic Party has also slowly lost its voice and fallen silent on the economy, with Democrats substituting a laundry list of program plans for economic vision. (more…)