Global Investors Are Telling Donald Trump His Deficits and National…
Washington is unnerved these days about budget deficits and the national debt. Deficit angst comes along periodically, often as a pretext for cutting social spending. This time, however, there’s genuine cause for alarm. Outsized deficits are par for the course when the economy is in recession or reeling from a shock like the pandemic or the financial collapse; most of… Continue reading
Can Europe Save Itself — and Avoid Pulling Down the…
At last weekend’s IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, the question on everyone’s minds was, what’s happened to Europe’s instinct for economic survival? While our Congress squabbles over bookkeeping for disaster assistance, the talk in the corridors of the IMF was that Europe is two to three weeks away from financial meltdown. It would start in the sinking market for…Continue reading
Protectionism Remains a Danger to Economic Recovery
Tough times almost always raise the pressure for trade protection, and the current global economic troubles are no exception. President Obama has generally resisted this impulse, asking Congress to approve new free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Still, Congress has yet to act. And here and around the world, new duties or other restrictions have been applied on…Continue reading
Grading Obama and the GOP Hopefuls on their Plans for…
Last week’s GOP debate at the Reagan Library, followed the next night by the President’s address to Congress, threw into stark relief the strengths and weaknesses of each side’s understanding of jobs and the economy. The Republican hopefuls get a gentleman’s C on the impact of regulation on economic activity. But their approaches to the overall economy and job creation ranged…Continue reading
For a Strong Economy, Keep Europe Afloat and Keep Americans…
The persistent sluggishness of the recovery here in the United States and in most of the world’s advanced economies should underscore a stark lesson from economic history: Systemic financial crises are the products of deep economic problems, and they can’t be solved by simply treating the after-effects of slow growth. It’s long overdue that the United States and Europe directly…Continue reading
The Best Advice for the President: Think Big and Move…
In good times, a President without clear economic policies may not suffer for it. But in shaky and uncertain times like today, failing to advance a coherent strategy to ease people’s genuine economic troubles can be fatal politically, for a president or his opponent. Yet, it happens with some regularity, often because the candidate simply prefers to talk about foreign…Continue reading
This Week’s Debt Deal Is George W. Bush’s Revenge –…
There is plenty of blame to go around for the recent debt and deficit shenanigans, but who should get the credit?   I nominate George W. Bush. Not only did his administration’s negligence secure the foundations for the financial upheavals which ultimately created much of the short-term deficit. The role of his tax cuts in driving much of the medium term…Continue reading
The Real Crisis Here Isn’t Over the Budget or the…
The United States, everyone seems to agree, faces an economic crisis, though its character depends on who raises the alarm. Most economists are mainly worried about financial turmoil and a deep slump if the U.S. government defaults on its sovereign obligations.  Traditional conservatives fret about the prospects for future business investment and growth if Washington doesn’t cut deeply into its…Continue reading
The Real Dangers from the New Austerity
To an economist, the current crusade by congressional Republicans to slash spending during a slow expansion seems to be about half ideology — the crude Tea Party view that most of what government does is corrupt or wasteful — and about half simple partisanship. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that so many governments have been gripped by a…Continue reading