by Eric Lonergan
Perhaps the most important economics research paper in several decades was recently published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, and it has largely gone unnoticed. It reveals that the Japanese government, after thirty years of running huge budget deficits, actually has net financial assets equivalent to only 33% of GDP. In a world where mundane [ ] The post Cryptocurrencies, the most…
The accidental wisdom of Mr Sunak How much does the transition to net zero have to fear from populism? In the UK, populist wannabe, Nigel Farage, has turned his sights on net zero, having recently dismissed Brexit as having ‘failed’. His recent rant against ‘meters’ would be humorous if it didn’t influence government policy. Prime [ ] The post Net zero has little to fear from populism appeared…
It is just over a year since we published Supercharge Me: Net Zero Faster, in the same week that Russia invaded the Ukraine. Six months later, the United States passed the Inflation Recovery Act. Both of these developments have profound relevance to climate policy the main focus of our book. Before we turn to [ ] The post Reframing climate policy: a reply to Simon Wren-Lewis appeared first on…
Economics keeps letting me down. The decade or so following the financial crisis spawned thousands of papers researching the financial system. I had a sinking feeling that none of it would help. Policy-making in economics, and economic research agendas, tend to follow the paradigm of PTSD sufferers. The trauma of the global financial crisis was [ ] The post Highs lows of economics: Kilkenny,…
Euro crisis II has started. The good news is that we have been here before, so we have learnt some lessons, the bad news is the that the underlying challenge is far greater: Italy the likely epicentre of this crisis has a far higher debt to GDP ratio; and the Eurozone has an [ ] The post Euro crisis II appeared first on Philosophy of Money .
EPIC debates: a reply to The Economist’s Free Exchange The Economist devotes the Free Exchange column to a discussion of some of the ideas in Supercharge Me. There is little we disagree with in this typically well-informed take, but a number of areas of nuance and substance merit a reply. One argument in Supercharge Me is [ ] The post EPICs v taxes appeared first on Philosophy of Money .
Climate policy: where economics went wrong Regular readers of this blog will be aware of a twelve month hiatus since I last posted anything. There is a good reason. Corinne Sawers, a sustainability expert, and I have co-authored Supercharge Me, a discussion on designing policies to collapse carbon emissions. The book is short, and should [ ] The post The wrong chapter of the textbook appeared…
When will the GameStop? It is worth reflecting on the first major panic on the New York Stock Exchange in 1901. On that occasion two magnates, James Hill and Edward Harriman, one supported by Standard Oil, the other by JP Morgan, were fighting for control of Northern Pacific Railroad company. In the process they inadvertently [ ] The post Pandemania appeared first on Philosophy of Money .
QE is not a liability transformation it is debt reduction The remuneration of bank reserves has been a source of significant analytical confusion among economists. This arcane technicality matters far more than it should [1]. The two most significant implications are: 1) public sector debt across the developed world is around 30% lower than [ ] The post QE is debt reduction appeared first on…
I cannot think of a better interlocutor than Chris Dilow. He raises another set of interesting questions in his reply to my reply. I am in danger of completely forgetting our original divergence of thought, but that bothers me not at all. I have read a lot of Marx, and always want to read more. [ ] The post Marx has the last laugh appeared first on Philosophy of Money .