Two numbers to remember: 84 thousand and 107 thousand
Author Archives: Menzie Chinn
Jeffrey Frankel: “The Dollar and Its Rivals”
JEC Chair Brady and the Inflation Outlook
From a statement by the Joint Economic Committee Chairman, October 9th, 2013:
I fear that the Federal Reserve through current policies of Quantitative Easing and maintaining extraordinary low interest rates may be providing the fuel for igniting high
inflation.
“Fiscal Policy: Accomplishments, Challenges and Opportunities”
That’s the title of CEA Chair Jason Furman’s presentation at the University of Wisconsin at Madison on Monday. Introduced by UW Chancellor Becky Blank, his discussion covered a wide range of issues. From WisBusiness:
Jason Furman, chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said Congress should invest in infrastructure at today’s low borrowing rates, reform the tax code, approve an immigration reform bill projected to cut the deficit and agree on long-term debt reduction, instead of implementing short-term cuts like sequestration that impede economic growth.
Apocalyptic Macro: Inflation Edition
From an opinion piece by Sean Fieler in USAToday:
If easy money delivers what it always has throughout history — growing inflation, growing inequality and growing government — a Republican embrace of sound money will offer America a way back to prosperity and the GOP a way back to a governing majority.
Assessing the Crowding Out Hypothesis: An Undergraduate Textbook Analysis
1. From my (undergraduate) Economics 390 “Topics in Macro” midterm:
Consider this statement:
“Borrowing and spending by the public sector will crowd out investment and growth in the private sector.” Paul Ryan, “Path to Prosperity” (April 2012).
1.1 In a standard IS-LM model, where investment spending is given by:
(7’) I = b0 – b2i
Will higher government spending crowd out investment? Use a graph to help explain your answer.
China, Development, and the US-China Economic Relationship
A Feasible Measure for Mitigating Income Inequality
Raise the Minimum Wage!
In the wake of New Jersey’s raise in the minimum wage,[0] it seems like a good time to re-assess the case for a nationwide increase. Back in the February State of the Union message, President Obama proposed an increase to $9.00 by the end of 2015. Figure 1 places in historical context the proposal.
Great Expectations, Deferred
Still waiting for large, economy-wide job increases from the “shale revolution”
Who Supports SNAP Cuts?
From reader Hans, commenting on the advisability of the reductions in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) expenditures, effective today:
You ax nothing from the recipient and everything from the tax slave…