Mitchell, B. (2014) “The sham of central bank independence“, Bill Mitchell Blog: Modern Monetary Theory – Macroeconomic Reality, 23 December. Let it be noted that the Japanese government 10-year bond yield hit 0.33 per cent overnight. That tells you that all the scaremongering that has been going on over the last twenty years about hyperinflation, the Japanese government running out of money, the bond markets dumping the yen, and …Read More
How Japan Bankrupted Itself – Lessons For Europe, The story of Japan’s decline — and the lessons for Europe
Stelter, D. (2014) “How Japan Bankrupted Itself – Lessons For Europe, The story of Japan’s decline — and the lessons for Europe“, The Globalist, 19 December. Following the start of Abenomics in 2012, Japan moved back to the center of attention of global financial markets. After two and a half decades of economic stagnation, hopes were high that Japan would escape its long stagnation and deflation. Plenty of economists …Read More
Combatting Eurozone deflation: QE for the people
Muellbauer, J. (2014) “Combatting Eurozone deflation: QE for the people“, VoxEU Organisation, 23 December. Eurozone deflation is likely to become reality when the annual inflation figure for 2014 is announced in January. This column argues that the ECB should develop a strategy that works in the Eurozone’s unique financial setting, instead of following the Fed’s lead. The author proposes that the ECB should pursue ‘quantitative easing for the people’, …Read More
New Theoretical Perspectives on the Distribution of Income and Wealth Among Individuals
Joseph E. Stiglitz, Branko Milanovic & Duncan Foley (Video Presentation) “New Theoretical Perspectives on the Distribution of Income and Wealth Among Individuals“, Institute for New Economic Thinking, 19 December 2014. Inequality has become one of the major talking points amongst economists since the advent of Thomas Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Piketty argues in the book that the main driver of inequality—the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the …Read More
Buttonwood: Let’s get fiscal, A new book from a prescient economist
Buttonwood: Let’s get fiscal, A new book from a prescient economist, The Economist, 19 December 2014. What is the Japanese word for Schadenfreude? For much of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western economists and politicians were happy to lecture the Japanese government about the mistakes it made in the aftermath of its asset bubble. But six years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the investment bank whose demise …Read More
Enhancing the Legitimacy of EMU Governance
Alcidi, C., Giovannini, A. & Piedrafita, S. (2014) “Enhancing the Legitimacy of EMU Governance“, Economic Policy, Politics and Institutions, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) Special Reports, 18 December. This CEPS Special Report investigates ways to enhance the legitimacy of economic governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) without introducing Treaty changes. It suggests changes in the governance framework at both the institutional and economic level. Input-oriented legitimacy …Read More
Understanding Piketty: Merit and rent in a growing economy
Minelli, Ε. (2014) “Understanding Piketty: Merit and rent in a growing economy“, VoxEU Organisation, 19 December. Growth and inequality are back at the centre of the economic debate. This column presents a framework for interpreting Thomas Piketty’s data based on Paul Romer’s model of endogenous growth. Two balanced growth regimes are possible in this framework: one (‘merit’) with a low capital–output ratio, a high interest rate, and high growth; …Read More
Economics Has to Come to Terms with Wealth and Income Inequality
Lynn Parramore: Interview with Joseph Stiglitz: “Economics Has to Come to Terms with Wealth and Income Inequality“, Institute for New Economic Thinking, 16 December. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz has been writing about America’s economically divided society since the 1960s. His recent book, The Price of Inequality, argues that this division is holding the country back, a topic he has also explored in research supported by the Institute. On December …Read More
Συζήτηση με τον Larry Summers: Τι επιφυλάσσει το μέλλον για την οικονομία; (Βίντεο)
“Conversation with Larry Summers: What does the Future Hold for our Economy? (Video)“, Social Europe Journal, 17 December. As 2014 draws to a close people wonder what the new year will have in store. If you are worried about the world economy have a look at this discussion with Larry Summers. The former US Secretary of the Treasury discussed the major economic trends and challenges with David Leonhardt, editor …Read More
Solving tax avoidance will not cure the Eurozone of stagnation
Mitchell, B. (2014) “Solving tax avoidance will not cure the Eurozone of stagnation“, Bill Mitchell Blog, 15 December. There was an article in the French-language edition of Huffington Post last last week (December 10, 2014) – Sans Europe fiscale, le projet européen est condamné (Without taxes, the European project is doomed) – written by the President of the French Socialist delegation in the European Parliament, Pervenche Berès. Her committee …Read More