Saturday, February 07, 2009

A compendium of economics theory

I've written a *lot* of good economics articles over the past two years amongst all the snark and cat photos. Here is a collection of what I believe are my best economics posts, roughly in reverse order. Enjoy!

  1. Why the "Liquidationists" are full of it about the current crisis.
  2. Unemployment is NOT caused by wage levels but, rather, by a shortage of sufficient demand to justify hiring additional workers.
  3. Unemployment is NOT caused by taxes, but, rather, by a shortage of sufficient demand to justify hiring additional workers.
  4. Deficits don't matter during deflation
  5. The Cross of Gold -- more explication of why the gold standard was/is a bad idea.
  6. Rent-seeking behavior on the part of our elites is destroying our economy. Low top marginal rates reward asset stripping and remove the incentive to think long-term and results in bubbles rather than productive use of capital, or, why our foreign competition is whipping our butts.
  7. The reason conservatives fear democracy -- the fear that the productive worker majority (us) that create the wealth, might vote to take wealth away from the leech investor class that merely manages wealth rather than producing it.
  8. Inflation math -- how to do it correctly as vs. right-wingly. Fiscal stimulus is not a zero-sum game, or, that marvelous invention, the PRINTING PRESS.
  9. Why do we need the Federal Reserve? And: a debunk of many of the conspiracy theories about the Federal Reserve.
  10. Why do we need banks, anyhow?
  11. Why (some) inflation is good
  12. The economics of Herbert Hoover. Or: The idiocy of modern-day "liquidationists" who seem incapable of learning from history.
  13. What's the endgame? In which I make a case for (some) socialism.
  14. Attack of the Zombies
  15. The Paradox of Thrift
  16. That marvelous invention, the Printing Press
  17. How bankruptcy "reform" contributes to the current crisis (and why tax cuts aren't working)
  18. Universal healthcare increases propensity to spend and thus economic activity
  19. Why neither pure capitalism nor Communism are the answer and Libertarianism isn't the answer either.
  20. Why the economy is sick, as explained to us by the Chinese.
  21. Why we need a middle class with a propensity to spend
  22. We have now reached the limits of monetary policy (or, the Final Death of Milton Friedman)
  23. Will a job creation subsidy put Americans back to work?
  24. Pushing on a string -- why more money in the banks isn't helping the economy.
  25. On invisible hands and the Big Three. Or: Deflationary spirals are bad.
  26. How to do a stimulus plan that will work. (Hint: It's not the USA doing it).
  27. Who should get tax cuts?
  28. The only -ism we should be concerned about is pragmatism.
  29. Warm up the helicopters! We are in uncharted territory.
  30. Thomas Jefferson was a great political theorist, but a terrible economist
  31. Deflationary spirals, and the need for government intervention
  32. A side excursion on money.
  33. More on why deflationary spirals are bad
  34. You can't eat gold. And, gold scams and the gold standard.
  35. Why a minimum wage hike would be a good thing right about now...
  36. Classic American Liberalism, Part II and, why classic American Liberalism, being based on pragmatism, always wins in the end.
  37. Power dynamics, the free market, and inflation. Or, the guy at the bottom of the power tower always loses.
  38. Bear Stearns, fiat money, and regulation
  39. Is government a "drag" on the economy?
  40. Why modern technological civilization is worth saving
-- Badtux the Economics Penguin

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