Notable Quotes
- Joan Robinson (girl economist): Richard T. Ely Lecture to the American Economics Association, 1972 (published in AER, 1972, 62(1/2): 1-10)
"A sure sign of a crisis is the prevalence of cranks. It is characteristic of a crisis in theory that cranks get a hearing from the public which orthodoxy is failing to satisfy. ... The cranks are to be preferred because they see that there is a problem."
Must Reads
- John Quiggin on Zombie Economics
Just read it. Don't skip anything.
March 2010
Maxine's Essays
- Post-Modern Applied Economics: It’s the Error Term, Stupid. - Maxine Udall (girl economist)
Maxine believes it’s time to refocus attention and discussion on the error term. It is often where much of the action is in our models. It is where unexpectedly catastrophic events dwell resulting in fat tails. It is where our animal spirits manifest and cause us to do the right thing or the wrong thing or the thing everyone else is doing rather than the self-interested, fully-informed rational thing. It is where God and miracles and chance dwell. - Intergenerational Win-Win: Health Insurance, Education, Environment, Infrastructure - Maxine Udall (girl economist)
So when we’re talking about fiscal stimulus packages and we’re borrowing from our grandchildren to finance them, we should be thinking about how to use stimulus monies to create value for those grandchildren AND stimulate our economy. - Short-term Private Payoffs, Long-term Social Costs - Maxine Udall (girl economist)
The real health reform discussion, the one we should be having, is “What must we do to create a health system that is both efficient and fair?” The answer will almost certainly include relegating the private sector to markets where market forces or regulation are effective at aligning short-term private incentives and goals with long-term societal interests. If such markets are scarce or non-existent in health, then the private health sector will be of limited value. - What's So Bad About the Public Option? - Maxine Udall (girl economist)
The public option would be an important first step toward correcting these permanently flawed, distorted, unfair and unethical markets. It would provide both an ethical and an efficient option to those without insurance and to those with inadequate insurance. If it crowds out an inefficient, unethical private sector, I fail to see the loss. - Is Capitalism the Problem? - Maxine Udall (girl economist)
We need another name for unprincipled, short-sighted, self-interested people who may or may not be capitalists. I call them Gyges. - Health Reform: Is it Moral or Economic? - Maxine Udall (girl economist)
...we as a nation must begin and sustain intelligent, informed discourse aimed at answering Plato's question: How shall we (as a nation) live? One large part of that answer involves health and health care. Economics and ethics are both necessary to answer the question.
Economics Blogs
- VOXEU
Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists - The Baseline Scenario
- Dani Rodrik's weblog
Unconventional thoughts on economic development and globalization - Economic Dreams - Economic Nightmares
Good source for heterodox commentary and links. - Mark Thoma - Economist's View
- Brad Delong-Grasping Reality with Both Hands
- Paul Krugman-Conscience of a Liberal
Health Reform, Health Economics, & Health Policy
- OMB Blog
Director of OMB, Peter Orszag, blogs on health reform and health costs with more credibility than almost anyone else. - Health Impact Assessment Blog
Interesting because it attempts to conceptualize health production as an expanded process with many causal factors, not all of them the obvious ones like medical care, nutrition, exercise, etc. - Mike Lawlor's Economics & Health Reform Blog
Maxine thinks that Mike is a near-perfect boy economist because of his background in both economics and philosophy. He is always thoughtful, balanced, and theoretically sound. - Congressional Budget Office Director’s Blog » Health
- Kevin Frick - Public Health & Health Policy through an Economist's Lens
Kevin Frick (boy economist) does a great job of explaining the economics of various health reform and health care delivery issues so that non-economists can understand them.
History, Philosophy, Ethics, and Political Economy
- How Do You Know?
I was tempted to place this under aesthetics. A thoughtful blog by Ecrive that roams across a broad intellectual landscape, always with a new perspective. - Advice Unasked
Nice thoughtful blog with political, economic, ethical, and philosophical insights worth reading. - Adam Smith's Lost Legacy
A much-needed website devoted to restoring Smith's legacy as one of our finest moral philosophers. - David Coates: Answering Back
David Coates has created a "living book" that will be of interest to all progressives. - History of Economic Thought Website
Includes links to electronic versions of some HET texts - Suburban Guerrilla
Keeping an eye on the corporate media - David Coates' Blog
David is one of Maxine's favorite political economists. He is Worrell Professor of Anglo-American Studies at Wake Forest University. - The Edge of the American West
Don't miss this one.
Finance
- naked capitalism
Yves Smith's excellent blog that critically examines the heart of capitalism - Winner of Inaugural ICFR/FT Essay Contest on Banking Regulation
Nana Esi Atsem won for the best essay, which sought to answer the question: “What works best for banking regulation: market discipline or hard-wired rules?” - Bank search | BankTracker | Investigative Reporting Workshop
Handy-dandy link from AMU School of Communication provides bank-specific troubled asset ratios. - Calculated Risk: Doris "Tanta" Dungey
An amazing woman who got it "right" when everyone else was still denying the bubble, the froth, and the impending disaster. Requiescat in pace, Tanta. - Calculated Risk
Includes frequently updated list of FDIC problem banks
Political Blogs
- TPMCafe: MiguelitoH2O
Thought-provoking, sometimes hair-raising, well-written political, economic, and literary blog (that Maxine doesn't always agree with) by an outstanding political commentator.
The Best of the Rest
- myTPM | tuhermana's Blog
Tu hermana wordcrafts paths to interesting places. - Getting Healthy at Home in Rockingham County
Great blog for foodies and aging people who need inspiration to get healthy - Sherry Moss on Women's Work-Related Issues
- Patience-Please
Good blog for dog and horse lovers, creative writing lovers, music lovers, art lovers, and people who just want a quiet corner of the web where they can curl up for a good story, a good laugh, or a good cry.
Aesthetics
- Reflections on a life in medicine & art
Artist, William Renzulli, shares his very thoughtful reflections on a life in medicine and art.
Miscellaneous Links of Interest
- Project Syndicate: A World of Ideas
Great source of thought pieces by some of our greatest economists, political scientists, and other thought leaders - Oil vs Natural Gas Conversion Calculator
Just in case you're thinking of switching - Keynes: The Return of the Master by Robert Skidelsky | Book review | Books | The Observer
Krugman's book review of Robert Skidelsky's book. - FT.com / Columnists / John Kay - Do not discount what you cannot measure
A variant on the price of everything and the value of nothing, yes? - Economics focus: Measuring what matters | The Economist
Man (and woman) does not live by GDP alone. Time to figure out what really measures well-being. - Labor Market Pain Spreads: Unemployment Rates, by State - Real Time Economics - WSJ
- Public Option? Arizona Has Had One For Years - Kaiser Health News
They didn't get it right right away, but it seems to be working now and it's cheaper than pvt insurance even though the people enrolled appear to be sicker. - David Einhorn on private profits & socialized risk
More proof that if you were paying attention or if you were being paid to pay attention, you should have foreseen the meltdown. - Census Bureau News Release on US Income, Poverty and Uninsured 9/10/2009
US income disparity continues to grow along with the proportion of the population without health insurance. - NPR Press Release on the Anguish of Unemployment
More evidence that this time it's worse
