Filter by
4186 results found
-
BlogFinancial Fraud Prosecutions Down 60% Over Last Decade
(Down 57.7 percent to be exact.) Sure, Wall Street has returned to claiming its 40 percent share, or so, of all corporate profits, while receiving little more than a regulatory slap on the wrist (which lobbyists are currently working to bring down to a light effleurage), but at the very least, at the end of [...] -
Blog
The Italian Solution: A Dissent
Yesterday a group of economists issued a petition to the (new, Berlusconi-free) Italian government. You can read it here. They set out what is mostly good advice based on the premise that Italy should remain in the EMU. Many of my friends signed the petition, but I had to decline. Here is the text of [...] -
Press ReleaseWithout Fiscal Policies That Support Growth, European Sovereign Debt and U.S. Subprime Mortgage Crises Are Far from Over, Study from Levy Economics Institute Says
-
One-Pager No. 19The Future of the Eurozone Does Not Lie with Enlargement
The European Union’s survival depends on its ability to reform, either through enlargement—greater economic and fiscal coordination in the direction of some sort of federal state—or by getting smaller, with the eurozone becoming a true optimum currency area. Most analysts support the former proposition. But the rush to strengthen and expand the Union is precisely […] -
One-Pager No. 19
Το μέλλον της ευρωζώνης δεν ανήκει στη διεύρυνση
Η επιβίωση της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης εξαρτάται από την ικανότητά της να προβεί σε μεταρρυθμίσεις, είτε μέσω επέκτασης—μεγαλύτερο οικονομικό και δημοσιονομικό συντονισμό προς την κατεύθυνση κάποιου είδους ομοσπονδιακού κράτους—ή με το να συρρικνωθεί, με την ευρωζώνη να γίνεται μια βέλτιστη νομισματική περιοχή. Οι περισσότεροι αναλυτές στηρίζουν την πρώτη πρόταση. Αλλά η εσπευσμένη ενίσχυση και διεύρυνση της […] -
Blog
Among the Minskyans
Dan Monaco, writing for The Straddler, attended this year’s Minsky Summer Seminar at the Levy Institute and put together an engrossing (and accessible) article that looks at the work of Hyman Minsky, paying particular attention to Minsky’s interpretation of Keynes (including his views about the misinterpretation of Keynes by mainstream economics). The article is sprinkled [...] -
Blog
A new government in Italy
Italy is getting a new government today, which is expected to act rapidly to strengthen the Italian growth potential, thus addressing the public debt “problem.” However, it is doubtful that any new government in Italy can succeed in addressing the European financial crisis without concerted action at the European level. I endorse at least the [...] -
Blog
Is the ECB Powerless or Unwilling? (Ctd)
Relevant to the question of the legal limits of relying on the European Central Bank as lender of last resort, Tyler Durden observes Jens Weidmann, head of the Bundesbank, defending the narrow view of the ECB’s role in a recent Financial Times interview: FT: Can you explain why the ECB cannot be lender of last [...] -
Blog
Keynes vs. Schmeynes Debate
If you missed last week’s Reuters-sponsored Keynes vs. Hayek debate at the Asia Society, video of the event is attached below, beginning with James Galbraith’s contribution. The debate, predictably, ended up being more about the last two-and-a-half years of economic policy. Note also the way in which this turns into a Democratic Keynesianism vs Republican [...] -
Blog
Is This the End of the EMU?
(cross posted at EconoMonitor) For more than a decade, I’ve been arguing that the EMU was designed to fail. It was based on the pious hope that markets would not notice that member states had abandoned their currencies when they adopted the euro, thereby surrendering fiscal and monetary policy to the center. The problem was [...] -
Blog
Underutilized Workers Outnumber Job Openings 7 to 1
(Click to enlarge.) The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released this month show an increase in the number of job openings available throughout the United States, as reported by Catherine Rampell in the New York Times “Economix” blog. As of the end of September, there were 3.8 unemployed people per job opening, [...] -
Blog
Is the ECB Powerless to Rescue Europe, or Just Unwilling?
1) Marshall Auerback, at New Economic Perspectives, digs into the issue of whether the ECB is legally permitted to engage in the sort of “lender of last resort” activities that many think are key to mitigating this crisis: The notion that it cannot act as lender of last resort is disingenuous: The ECB does have [...]