User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: A history of economic whac-a-mole

  1. #1
    Points: 665,270, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 88.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second ClassYour first GroupOverdrive50000 Experience PointsTagger First ClassVeteran
    Awards:
    Discussion Ender
    Chris's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    433314
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    197,552
    Points
    665,270
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    31,984
    Thanked 80,903x in 54,720 Posts
    Mentioned
    2011 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)

    A history of economic whac-a-mole

    This looks like an interesting read.

    A history of economic whac-a-mole

    The big lesson of the past 60 years of US economic policy, according to former vice chair of the US Federal Reserve and current Princeton University economist Alan S. Blinder’s new book, A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961-2021, is that there is no big lesson.

    There has been neither linear development nor much “progress” in figuring out how to manage modern economies in the interest of macroeconomic stability. Instead, Blinder describes “wheels within wheels, spinning endlessly in time and space … [with] certain themes … waxing and waning … monetary versus fiscal … the intellectual realm … the world of practical policy making … the repeated ascendance and descendance of Keynesianism ….”

    The underlying story is driven, ultimately, by historical contingency. Problems appear and are either solved or not solved. Either way, the response sets the stage for a new and different problem to emerge, because the actions taken in the recent past left the economy more vulnerable in some way. But by the end of the story, one gets the sense that some of the problems were quite similar to one another, and that economic policymakers have been playing a never-ending game of Whac-A-Mole.....
    As Friedrich August von Hayek put it, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."

    The problem with political economy is the very notion that an economy can be managed without introducing more problems.

    A deeper problem is that politics should serve the economy rather than the economy and politics serving the people, the nation.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

  2. #2
    Points: 143,765, Level: 91
    Level completed: 20%, Points required for next Level: 2,885
    Overall activity: 79.0%
    Achievements:
    Social50000 Experience PointsOverdriveVeteran
    carolina73's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    43654
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    57,490
    Points
    143,765
    Level
    91
    Thanks Given
    56,067
    Thanked 43,659x in 28,248 Posts
    Mentioned
    154 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Economists are also poor thinkers. They follow textbooks. That is why they are so often wrong.

    The condition and problems of the economy at any given time are necessary to understand before putting in changes in tax codes and economic policy.

    The impact of Reagan tax cuts was maximized during the deep Carter Recession, Federal revenues (grew 50% in 5 years) and the economy grew quickly.
    The Clinton tax increase did not hurt revenue growth because the country was in the middle of the dot.com boom.

    Right now economists are trying to fix a oil based recession by slowing the economy. Since most economist just read books then they do not understand increasing US supply of crude oil takes care of the problem without inflation and a recession. It does not say that in their text books and they know little about business.
    Last edited by carolina73; 11-05-2022 at 10:05 AM.
    Let's go Brandon !!!

  3. #3
    Points: 13,034, Level: 27
    Level completed: 43%, Points required for next Level: 516
    Overall activity: 0.2%
    Achievements:
    OverdriveSocial10000 Experience Points1 year registered
    LescoBrandon's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    2542
    Join Date
    Oct 2022
    Posts
    3,966
    Points
    13,034
    Level
    27
    Thanks Given
    2,689
    Thanked 2,532x in 1,663 Posts
    Mentioned
    15 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Well, when you artificially make money cheap, prices will rise. Suppressing interest rates and printing trillions will do this.

    Nobody really thought a digital picture should be worth $1,000,000, lol.

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to LescoBrandon For This Useful Post:

    Peter1469 (11-05-2022)

  5. #4
    Points: 143,765, Level: 91
    Level completed: 20%, Points required for next Level: 2,885
    Overall activity: 79.0%
    Achievements:
    Social50000 Experience PointsOverdriveVeteran
    carolina73's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    43654
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    57,490
    Points
    143,765
    Level
    91
    Thanks Given
    56,067
    Thanked 43,659x in 28,248 Posts
    Mentioned
    154 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by LescoBrandon View Post
    Well, when you artificially make money cheap, prices will rise. Suppressing interest rates and printing trillions will do this.

    Nobody really thought a digital picture should be worth $1,000,000, lol.
    Interest rates stayed low for far too long.

    But no one is still affected by the $1400 Biden gave us almost 2 years ago. You either spent it fast or you threw it in the bank for retirement.
    Let's go Brandon !!!

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to carolina73 For This Useful Post:

    Peter1469 (11-05-2022)

  7. #5
    Points: 13,034, Level: 27
    Level completed: 43%, Points required for next Level: 516
    Overall activity: 0.2%
    Achievements:
    OverdriveSocial10000 Experience Points1 year registered
    LescoBrandon's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    2542
    Join Date
    Oct 2022
    Posts
    3,966
    Points
    13,034
    Level
    27
    Thanks Given
    2,689
    Thanked 2,532x in 1,663 Posts
    Mentioned
    15 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by carolina73 View Post
    Interest rates stayed low for far too long.

    But no one is still affected by the $1400 Biden gave us almost 2 years ago. You either spent it fast or you threw it in the bank for retirement.


    Yeah, the disease of easy money further enhanced wealth inequality, too. It's a disease that feels good to lots of people. The cure is painful, though.

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to LescoBrandon For This Useful Post:

    carolina73 (11-05-2022)

  9. #6
    Points: 23,893, Level: 37
    Level completed: 62%, Points required for next Level: 457
    Overall activity: 1.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialVeteran50000 Experience Points
    Newpublius's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    39140
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Posts
    7,313
    Points
    23,893
    Level
    37
    Thanks Given
    1,556
    Thanked 4,123x in 2,793 Posts
    Mentioned
    94 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by carolina73 View Post
    Interest rates stayed low for far too long.

    But no one is still affected by the $1400 Biden gave us almost 2 years ago. You either spent it fast or you threw it in the bank for retirement.
    It wasn't just stimmies though, the money creation financed that government spending which was financed by money creation which at one point in the pandemic was nearly 100% of the treasury bond issuance.

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts