Changes in Teaching Economics?

by Mario Rizzo  

The Economist asked how the teaching of economics might change in the wake of the financial crisis and the recession.  

Predictably, some economists said they would teach more about the (shadow) banking system and economic history. That is good. But most will simply tweak their courses. 

The vast majority of economists know what they have been taught. The active researchers also know the models or frameworks that have governed their research. Most are not about to shake up the world of ideas that has been good to them.  

Bleeding the Economy

by Roger Koppl

At the Cobden Centre‘s website (and here), Steve Baker discusses recent Fed signals in the context of Big Players theory.  The more active the Fed (or other central bank), the greater the fraction of entrepreneurial attention devoted to Fed watching rather than productive activity.  As Baker says, “traders must pay attention to the Big Player and not the fundamentals.”

What Ended The Great Recession?

by Mario Rizzo  

Some business forecasters with a not-too-bad record are predicting that the recession will be over by the end of the year.  (NBER dates the beginning to December 2007.)  

Of course, the recovery in terms of real output from the Great Depression began in the 3Q of 1933 and that did not preclude high unemployment rates and a further recession in 1937. Here. Let that pass for the moment. 

If recovery begins, the discussion about why will also begin. Let’s confine ourselves to evaluating policies designed by the government to produce recovery.