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
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
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
I recently thought of a new way to measure the burden of the national debt, though I'm sure I'm not the first. When we measure the national debt, we typically take either gross federal debt, or federal debt held by the public as a share of gross domestic product. When we do that, we come … Continue reading Putting the National Debt Into Perspective
