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Monthly Archives: March 2014
Was Marx Right?
Well, it looks like The New York Times has opened a bit of a can of worms by asking Was Marx Right?. I generally find that this question to be a bit annoying. Was Marx right about what, specifically? That … Continue reading
Posted in Economic History, Economic Theory
20 Comments
Why Long-Run Theories of Profit and Accumulation Fall Short
Nothing gets heterodox economists quite so fussed as the long-run theory of the rate of profit. Yet, Keynes did without one altogether and when examined closely there is no way that such a theory can say anything tangible about the … Continue reading
Posted in Economic Theory
4 Comments
Krugman Uses ISLM to Proclaim Looming Fiscal Crisis, Denounces Those Who Don’t Use ISLM
Some people often ask why I complain about Krugman. “Hey Phil, Krugman is a good guy. He likes government spending. You like government spending. Therefore you must like Krugman,” says our budding young Socrates. Well, I’ll tell you why: because … Continue reading
Posted in Economic History, Economic Policy, Economic Theory
26 Comments
A Man’s World: Is Gender the Key Explanatory Factor Behind the Modelling Tendency in Economics?
Some time ago I made a remark that the bias toward mathematical modelling in economics might have to do with the male bias of the discipline. More specifically, I argued that models provided a stand-in for the economist’s own person … Continue reading
Some Metaphors Are Better Than Others: Deirdre McCloskey and the Capital Debates
Well, my previous piece on the work of Deirdre McCloskey generated some discussion. I just thought that perhaps I should lay out what I find problematic about her work. The problem with McCloskey is that she practices a sort of … Continue reading
Posted in Economic Theory, Philosophy
5 Comments
Empty Rhetoric: On the Work of Deirdre McCloskey
Yesterday I read a short pamphlet by Deirdre McCloskey entitled The Secret Sins of Economics. You can get it here for free in PDF form. A friend of mine told me a while ago that I would like McCloskey. He … Continue reading
Posted in Economic Theory, Philosophy
13 Comments
More on the Job Guarantee and Wage Price Inflation
I’ve got quite a response to my last piece on the Job Guarantee program and it’s possible influence on wage-price spirals. Some of the kickback I received is, I think, based on a misunderstanding. A few people seemed to think … Continue reading
Posted in Economic Policy, Economic Theory
16 Comments
The Job Guarantee, Wage-Price Inflation and Alternative Solutions
Before I start this post I should make one thing abundantly clear: I strongly support the idea of a Jobs Guarantee (JG) program. I think that the benefits it might bring to society so far outweigh its potential drawbacks that … Continue reading
Posted in Economic Policy, Economic Theory
30 Comments
BBC Radio Program on George Berkeley
BBC Radio 4 have released a fantastic discussion with three contemporary Berkeley scholars as a podcast on their website. I cannot recommend the discussion enough. I want to here run through some of the points raised by the commentators in … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Thinking Makes It So: The IMF Bailout of the UK in 1976 and the Rise of Monetarism
Monetarism began it’s rise to world prominence in the ever-conservative Bundesbank in 1974. But it would be the government of Margaret Thatcher in the UK, elected in 1979, that would truly launch monetarism in central banking. After Thatcher’s monetarist experiment … Continue reading
Posted in Economic History, Economic Policy, Economic Theory
10 Comments
Fixing the Economists 