Finance
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The Private Debt Crisis
Sep 21, 2016
China is drowning in it. The whole world has too much of it. History suggests: This won’t end well.
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Monetary Policy in a Post-Crisis World: Beyond the Taylor Rule
Sep 9, 2016
We know about emergency lending, but what we are missing is the macroeconomic framework to guide a new rule for stabilization policy
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Monetary Policy Family Reunion at Jackson Hole
Aug 31, 2016
Like any family reunion, the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium may have been as significant for what was said as it was for what was not discussed
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The Pros and Cons of a Universal Basic Income
Aug 29, 2016
In June of this year, Swiss voters saw an initiative on their ballots calling for an “unconditional basic income” that would “allow the whole population to lead a decent life and participate in public life.” Put on the ballot by a petition drive after it was rejected in parliament, the initiative was rejected by 77 percent of Swiss voters, with 23 percent approving.
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Working Paper Series
The performativity of potential output: Pro-cyclicality and path dependency in coordinating European fiscal policies
Aug 2016
This paper analyzes the performative impact of the European Commission’s model for estimating ‘potential output’, which is used as a yardstick for measuring the ‘structural budget balance’ of EU countries and, hence, is crucial for coordinating European fiscal policies.
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Who Picked the Pockets of America’s Households?
Aug 24, 2016
The 2008 financial meltdown wiped out what was left of the savings of millions of American families, but Professor Edward Wolff says decades of income inequality had set the stage for the collapse of their household wealth.
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The link between health spending and life expectancy: The US is an outlier
Aug 18, 2016
The US stands out as an outlier: the US spends far more on health than any other country, yet the life expectancy of the American population is not longer but actually shorter than in other countries that spend far less.
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Demystifying Monetary Finance
Aug 17, 2016
The debate about so-called helicopter money is burdened by deep fears and unnecessary confusions: some worry that monetary finance is bound to produce hyperinflation; others argue that, in terms of increasing demand and inflation, it would be no more effective than current policies. Both cannot be right.
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Is Technology Killing Capitalism?
Aug 17, 2016
Is Market Capitalism simply an accident of certain factors that came together in the 19th and 20th centuries? Does the innovation of economics require a new economics of innovation? Is the study of economics deeply affected by the incentive structures faced by economists themselves, necessitating a study of the “economics of economics”?
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The (Impossible) Repo Trinity
Aug 12, 2016
The untold story of shadow banking
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Minsky's Many Moments
Aug 5, 2016
The Economist pays tribute to Hyman Minsky, whose ideas on financial instability have not been given the attention and prominence they deserve
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Commentary
Why a future tax on bank credit intermediation does not offset the stimulative effect of money finance deficits
Aug 2016
This paper responds to a paper by Claudio Borio, Piti Disyatat and Anna Zabai “Helicopter Money: the Illusion of a Free Lunch”
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How the FED's QE Contributed to Inequality
Aug 3, 2016
Epstein discusses financial reform, central banking, and how the FED actually contributed to economic inequality.
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Financialization and its Discontents
Aug 2, 2016
Focusing on what money really is – whether gold or state fiat – shifts attention away from what credit really is, which is to say away from the center of discontent.
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How Much Do Shady Financial Practices Cost You, Exactly?
Jul 22, 2016
Average U.S. household loses over $100,000 to destructive activities of bankers and financiers