Introduction Among the things that irk me these days are these yuppie urban planning folk. It's not to say they don't have fair and reasoned points at times, but the more radical of them espouse the economic and environmental benefits of 'abolishing' the suburb and the automobile. I find such a position incorrect and worth … Continue reading Automobiles Are Superior To Public Transit and It’s Not Even Close
One of the most contentious but also consequential debates in economic policy is on whether or not to raise, maintain, or lower the minimum wage, and by how much. There are a great many arguments that circulate about the minimum wage and its effects on the economy, but few that are backed by meaningful data … Continue reading American Economy, Meet Minimum Wage
A rallying call for many in the progressive left, Medicare For All was effectively introduced and championed by Senators Bernie Sanders in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic Party Presidential Primaries. Advocates, of which there are many, claim that Medicare For All would bring the United States in line with the rest of the world, promising … Continue reading Why ‘Medicare For All’ is the Right Approach
One of the neat ideas that caught my attention recently was the progressive case for eliminating corporate income taxation as we know it today. I had been, and in some sense still am a strong proponent of increased taxes on corporate profits, and when I had heard that one my favorite Post-Keynesian economist and his … Continue reading Taxing Profits Through Shareholders
There's a minor debate always ongoing about how we ought to tax income from capital gains, which is at present taxed separately from ordinary income, at preferential rates. There have been many proposals, such as eliminating the preferential rates or taxing gains on a mark-to-market basis, which is tricky since share prices tend to fluctuate … Continue reading Retrospectively Calculated Capital Gains Tax
Like a great many landmines left by the failures of our political establishment over recent years, there is a disaster lurking down the path, soon to be under our feet. The name of this landmine is the national debt. While it's true that historically the national debt has hardly ever been a serious issue for … Continue reading The Risk of Debt Singularity
In the 1960's, a period of rapid economic growth, falling unemployment, and accelerating inflation, liberals and progressive set out to make improvements in the social safety net, installing some lasting and well known programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Various other things were achieved in that period, including acts which advanced the causes of environmental … Continue reading The Minskyite Employer of Last Resort
When I last wrote about Medicare For All, I had some critical things to say about its feasibility and affordability. I wrote that in order to finance the system the government would need to greatly raise taxes on middle income, such as through regressive payroll taxes. Here I will demonstrate what I consider to be … Continue reading The Least Unforgiving M4A Fiscal Scenario
It was predicted early in the year that COVID-19 could kill as many as 2.2 million Americans. A variety of other models showed between 1 and 2 million fatalities, and they received frontpage news coverage for days and weeks. But 9 months into this pandemic, we haven't witnessed it. Is the answer to this question, … Continue reading How 2 Million American Lives Were Saved
Kitchin cycle. Juglar cycle. Kondratiev wave. Boom-bust. A whole bunch of malarkey. I don’t think recessions are nowadays really the result of ‘cycles,’ which is a term that sort of implies they are part of some natural order of things, like moon phases or the seasons. I think recessions are like ice ages. They are … Continue reading The Evolution of the Business Cycle
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