Who’s Living in a ‘Bubble’?
There’s a large spot reserved in the popular imagination for the Platonic ideal of an out-of-control market, a stunning collective enthusiasm that was bound to end in ruin: the tulip…
Star Economist at Harvard Faces Sexual Harassment Complaints
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Before he turned 40, Roland G. Fryer Jr. had earned tenure at Harvard, received a MacArthur “genius” grant and won the most prestigious award for young American…
The Economics of Soaking the Rich
I have no idea how well Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will perform as a member of Congress. But her election is already serving a valuable purpose. You see, the mere thought of…
Fix the Debt Freakout
First, President Trump’s apparent tantrum filled the headlines yesterday. But I think the more significant development was the latest sign of anxiety among congressional Republicans. “We’re getting pretty close” to a breaking…
Female Economists Push Their Field Toward a #MeToo Reckoning
ATLANTA — The economics profession is facing a mounting crisis of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying that women in the field say has pushed many of them to the sidelines…
The Real Legacy of the 1970s
In most histories of how Americans became so polarized, the Great Inflation of the 1970s is given short shrift — sometimes no shrift at all. This is wrong. Inflation was as…
In Amazon Fight, Progressives Showed What They Want: A New Economic Agenda
The political opposition that prompted Amazon to walk away from building a corporate headquarters in New York City featured a touchstone of the progressives’ economic agenda: ending tax policiesthat unfairly reward and…
An Economist’s Argument for Preserving Communities
Raghuram Rajan comes both to praise community and to bury it. This University of Chicago professor and former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund wants his new book to…
Why People Are Outraged at Lower Tax Refunds (but Probably Shouldn’t Be)
Both these things are true: Most Americans received a tax cut in 2018. But many will see a smaller tax refund than they are used to when they file their 2018 returns.…
How About We Try Modern Monetary Theory in a Small Country First?
For many years, “modern monetary theory” advocates have been a merry band of contrarians. If they taught a course, it might be called Everything You Know About Macroeconomics Is Wrong.…
