Free Republic

Iron Laws of Economics Reside There.. When people talk about economics, they generally refer to macroeconomics. Macroeconomics is a squishy science. Over the last several decades, economists have tried to bring rigor to it, but the variables are so random with such a significant variance that there is a lot of room to argue. That’s how Janet Yellen can whisper in Biden’s ear that there is no recession based on how she sees it. It’s also how Alan Blinder can write editorials in the Wall Street Journal claiming that more central planning and government bureaucracy always gets it right so...

When academia practices real diversity, one wonders how long it can continue. It usually doesn’t, unfortunately. Right now there is a crack in the Ivory Curtain in the person of Manuel Suarez-Mier, economist in residence at the School of International Service at American University. To call him politically incorrect would be an understatement. We mean that as a compliment. “I contend that any organization that has to use the word democratic as an adjective is anything but,” Suarez Mier said at a conference in Chicago co-sponsored by the Atlas Network and the Illinois Policy Institute. “Think about it: The Democratic...

<p>Christina Romer, the University of California at Berkeley economics professor and President Obama's first chief economist, once relayed the old joke that "there are two kinds of students: those who hate economics and those who really hate economics." She doesn't believe that, but it's true. I'm surprised how many students tell me economics is their least favorite subject. Why? Because too often economic theories defy common sense. Alas, the policies of this administration haven't boosted the profession's reputation.</p>

<p>In the early 1980’s, the Wall Street Journal asked liberal economist John Kenneth Galbraith and conservative economist Milton Friedman to predict the macroeconomic trends over the next two years. Both agreed that inflation would rise above 10%, and both accused the other of obtaining his prediction by reading chicken entrails. Both were wrong about inflation, but both were right about the chicken entrails.</p>

One current permathread on Big Orange is that Krugman and Obama are feuding or having a vendetta. Which, when you take a step back, is bizarre. That movement conservatives and Villagers like stone Bush enabler William Kristol, like David Brooks, Broderella, and Andrew Sullivan are all good with Obama isn’t even mentioned in passing by Obama’s fan base. And yet those same enthusiasts spend inordinate amounts of time vilifying Paul Krugman, a true progressive who was there for us from the earliest dark days of the Bush regime. Curious. What’s really happening? Krugman doesn’t have a problem with Obama; Krugman...

CALIFORNIA, has always been a forerunner of the newest trends and proud of it. Hearing that next-door Nevada had squeezed into first place in home foreclosures was heartbreaking news. But, never underestimate the tenacity of the average Californian who has once more regained the record with 148,147 foreclosures in the third quarter. Nevada is screaming “Foul, foul,” and is pointing out that California has an unfair advantage because, “There’s more of ‘em to foreclose against.” One astute Nevadan was quick to point out that numbers can be tricky, and “as a percentage of households per capita, we’re still way out...

For the first time since President Bush took office, an unexpected leap in tax revenue is about to shrink the federal budget deficit this year, by nearly $100 billion. On Wednesday, White House officials plan to announce that the deficit for the 2005 fiscal year, which ends in September, will be far smaller than the $427 billion they estimated in February. Mr. Bush plans to hail the improvement at a cabinet meeting and to cite it as validation of his argument that tax cuts would stimulate the economy and ultimately help pay for themselves. Based on revenue and spending data...

In American novels, well into the 1950's, one finds protagonists using the future stream of dividends emanating from their share holdings to send their kids to college or as collateral.  Yet, dividends seemed to have gone the way of the hoolah hoop. Few companies distribute erratic and ever-declining dividends. The vast majority don't bother. The unfavorable tax treatment of distributed profits may have been the cause.The dwindling of dividends has implications which are nothing short of revolutionary. Most of the financial theories we use to determine the value of shares were developed in the 1950's and 1960's, when dividends were...