Asymptosis: Always Approaching

Asymptosis: always approaching

  • This Isn’t Really Complicated, Is It?

    Obama went after the elephant in the room, at huge political cost. Say what you will about his political savvy, the way he went about it, or the reform’s likely (as opposed to hoped-for) effects, but it makes pretty clear who’s the adult in the room. Related posts: It’s The Health Care Costs, Stupid David…

  • More American Exceptionalism: Government Revenues

    Let’s adopt the unpresuming assumptions that: 1. A prosperous, modern economy needs a certain amount of government (taxing, spending) to become and remain prosperous. And that government has to be paid for via taxes and other government revenues. Simple enough. 2. Either too much or too little government in a country results in a poor…

  • 520 Traffic is Declining — Despite 15 Years of WSDOT Projections to the Contrary

    For my Seattle friends (click for source): As my buddy Steve says, just float in a new span before the current one sinks, and call it good. Related posts: Bush Promotes Private Sector: Cancels Shuttle for Football Fans Seattle’s a Happy Place! Outstate Washington, Appalachia: Not So Much Can John Gottman Predict Divorce? (Probably Not.)…

  • Death and Money: American Exceptionalism

    Lane Kenworthy once again gives us one of those graphs that encapsulates a whole global scenario, over four decades: Yeah: we’re #1. Edit: just to note that while we were on the high end of the spending pack until about 1980, we were within the normal range. It’s only since then that things really went…

  • Debt > 90% of GDP “associated with 1 percent lower median growth”

    Reinhard and Rogoff again repeat this claim. 1. As I pointed out, out of 3,700 samples (country/years) they find five (I found six) years of U.S. debt at that level: 1944-1949. Which was followed, of course, by the best two decades of U. S. growth in living memory. 2. Krugman went deeper:   as best…

  • Neoclassical economists don’t understand neoclassical economics

    I don’t usually just give the link and leave it at that. But I can’t hope to encapsulate the video here — essential viewing for everyone with any interest in economics, even if you have read Chapter Two of Keen’s book. (If you haven’t, watch the video now and wait till September to buy the…

  • Rents versus Profits

    Mike Konczal makes a key distinction that importantly frames recent discussions about “rentiers.” In my words: Rent is money received for having money. Profit is money earned for using money (your own and others’) to generate and sell real production — goods and services that have human value. As I’ve suggested in previous posts, American…

  • “The most productive members of our society.”

    “How do you know they’re the most productive members of our society?” “Because they make the most money.” “Ah. That explains why they make so much money.” Related posts: Nature: Good? 1098: If Millionaires Vote With Their Feet, They Apparently Don’t Care About Income Taxes Tea Partiers and OWSers: Who Needs to Get a Job?…

  • What Would Ronald Reagan Do?

    The budget deals of Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama, in one chart – Ezra Klein – The Washington Post. Related posts: 11 Percent of the Population Can Veto Anything Mea Culpa: Rivlin-Domenici Needs Work This Time Mankiw’s Just Plain Lying. And He Knows It. Gaming McCain’s Game Why Did Edwards Quit?

  • How Could You Possibly Call Them Hypocrites?

    June 2002: Congress approves a $450 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $6.4 trillion. McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor vote “yea”, Kyl votes “nay.” May 2003: Congress approves a $900 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $7.384 trillion. All four approve. November 2004: Congress approves an $800 billion increase, raising the debt limit to…

  • IS-LM: “A classroom gadget” (Wonkish)

    I’ve long felt inadequate when reading Very Serious People discussing economics, especially monetary economics (really: what other kind is there?), when they drop into discussions of the IS-LM model — standard fare that is proposed as gospel in economics textbooks and is widely used by Very Serious Economists making Very Serious Points. I feel inadequate…

  • Should the Government Just Keep Spending?

    Greg Mankiw, Dean Baker, and Tyler Cowen all light upon the surprising suggestion by Ron Paul: simply evaporate all the government bonds ($1.6 trillion worth) that the Fed has bought up of late. They’re just debts of one part of government to another part of government, so why not simply vanish them, reducing the treasury’s outstanding…

  • Yeah: Cutting Rich People’s Taxes Spurs Growth

      I know, I know, this falsehood has been skewered every which way from Sunday. But I couldn’t resist sharing one more. Rich People’s Taxes Have Little to Do with Job Creation. Related posts: Most Regressive Taxes? My Home State 🙁 Galbraith Translates “Trickle Down”: Eat Shit Obama and Small Business Cap Gains: Where’s the…

  • Modern Monetary Theory and New Monetary Economics

    Elevating and rewriting this from what I wrote in the comments. Thanks to bkmacd for prompting it by coming back at me on some issues. Are long-term government bonds a gift to bankers? Paying them interest to hold risk-free assets? His key points, and my replies: Whether or not you personally feel that taking on…

  • Bleg: Government “Savings”?

    If the Modern Monetary Theory model is correct, does “government savings” (either a stock or a flow) mean anything? Is there any such thing? According to MMT thinking, the government creates money into the private economy by spending (including via interest payments on bonds), and destroys money out of the private economy by taxing. (Bond…

  • The Real Return on Treasuries Should be Zero. They’re Risk-Free.

    If the modern monetary theory folks are right, there’s no reason the government should be paying interest above inflation on bonds and bills. It’s an artifact of the gold standard, utterly unnecessary (and economically destructive) in a fiat-currency economy. This realization courtesy of a February policy note by Jamie Galbraith that I just came across:…

  • Did I Mention Mentioning that It’s the Health Care Costs, Stupid?

    Yes. And yes. Krugman agrees: Its the Health Care Costs, Stupid – NYTimes.com. The key graphic: For those who don’t click on links that say “Source,” click here: Medicare Versus Private Insurance: The Data – NYTimes.com   Related posts: What’s Wrong with Vouchers? Medicare: Government Does It Right We Should Make Janitors Work Longer Because…

  • Government Debt Increases Interest Rates: Yeah, Right

    This is one of those graphics that speaks volumes about how right-wing economists are completely divorced from reality. They point to the sun rising in the east and say, “You see? I told you sun rises in the west.” Traders Crucible shows you the pictures: And he runs the numbers:   I’m not making any…

  • Demand Inflation Now! Up the Real Economy.

    I know it’s hokey: “Make a DIN!” (Hat tip: Gerald Ford.) Paul Krugman and others have been raising this issue front and center of late (notably today), which prompts me to post this, which I’ve been poking at for a while. I intended to make it much longer, with many more references, but I’ll give you…

  • Economists Aren’t Rational

    Well at least that’s true of freshwater economists and their saltwater outliers (no names, just initials: Greg Mankiw). Here’s how those economists think: People are rational economic actors. “Rational” means thinking like an economist. Rational (read: freshwater) economists know that government spending is (deferred) taxation. So when government spends, these rational people think and act…

  • How Corporations Became People

    Most people don’t know this fascinating and appalling little bit of legal history. I first learned about it back in 2003, from my friend and colleague Ted Nace’s Gangs of America. Accounts of it are all over the web, but I’ll try to give you the short story here. In casual discussions from the bench prior…