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.
July 2010
Maxine's Essays
- 21st Century Regress
Sometimes it seems like the world is going to hell and there's absolutely nothing a girl economist can do about it. - What Exactly Are We Crowding Out?
The current economic downturn isn't a random draw of a black ball from an urn containing white balls and black balls. There's no sampling distribution. Very specific policies and actions landed us here. Now we must decide not only what policies need to be put in place to prevent it happening again, but also what policies would best drive us out of the ditch faster and sustainably. - I Wish It Were Only Butter
We should be giving up some butter if we must. We should not give up education or health investment (or infrastructure or the environment (hello, BP). They may be the only legacies of any value that we pass on to our children and grandchildren. - Rational Health Investment?
The obvious "market solution" is to improve the long run return on investments in health among the disadvantaged through meaningful and effective publicly funded education. The obvious short run "market solution" is to reduce the costs of investment and the shadow price of health for the disadvantaged by providing health insurance cover and reduced out-of-pocket costs. - The Socrates Parameter
To the extent that our limbic systems respond to such engineering by over-riding the judgment of our frontal lobe and to the extent that our frontal lobe is deprived of the information it requires to make a rationally self-interested judgment, we are not only pigs and fools, we are slaves. - The Economic Rewards of Virtue
If individual virtue tempers our "piggy" desires and conditions our choices to something that is both individually and socially better, then the economic rewards of virtue as embodied in and promoted by societal norms and institutions are far greater than we have ever suspected. As economists, we would do well to recognize this when we teach U max. - The Market for Morals
Markets then are places where more is exchanged than goods and services, labor and product, credit, and interest. They are places where we also develop the personal virtues of temperance and prudence and the social virtues of benevolence and justice. When they function well, they produce trust, loyalty, and sympathy among those who trade there. - Post-Modern Applied Economics: It’s the Error Term, Stupid
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
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
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.
Economics Blogs
- global glass onion
Everything macro: the Fed, QE, debt & deficits, FX & and macro issues; banks, banksters & congress critters; the main street economy, including CRE, foreclosures, unemployment, state budgets and health care issues; &global issues, including the Chinese economy, world trade, energy and the environment, and peak oil. - Rajiv Sethi
Barnard College, Columbia U, and Santa Fe Institute economist Rajiv Sethi's thoughts on economics, finance, crime and identity... - 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
- The Barefoot Bum
Excellent, thoughtful blog grounded in philosophy and not afraid to take an honest girl economist to task. - Eyes On the Prize
Peter Kurze provides thoughtful, imaginative insight and perspective on contemporary issues and dilemmas. - 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
- Some Assembly Required
A blog that appears even more cynical (in a thoughtful way) than I about financial markets. - 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
