The Grumpy Economist

What should the Fed's long-run interest rate target be? The traditional view is that the glide path should aim at 4% -- 2% real plus 2% ...

Nicholas Eberstadt in Commentary , (HT Marginal Revolution) offers a revealing look at what's wrong with "middle" America...

On Sundays it has been my habit to read the New York Times Sunday Review . I like to peer in the bubble. On view, the old lady is still full...

Frank Diebold , on Mostly Harmless Econometrics : All told, Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion is neither "m...

How can economies forget? How is it that once we have learned to do something better, that knowledge can be lost and economies move backward...

On repeal and replace, a healthcare oped on "The Hill", here .   Republicans replacing Obamacare, beware. It has a certain logi...

In a remarkable and clear oped " A Conservative Answer to Climate Change " James Baker and George Shultz lay out the case for a ca...

Larry Summers has an excellent FT column, " Revoking trade deals will not help American middle classes. " (If you can't access...

Dodd-Frank reform seems to be back on the front burner, according to the latest Presidential executive order. At last. But let us hope it ...

On the house and administration plans to reform the corporate tax, and my struggles to figure it out. Larry Kotlikoff , "With Some Tw...

Question: What is an easy way to reduce immigration in to the US (if you want to do that)? Answer: Buy what they have to sell. If they can...

My view: the corporate tax should be zero. Not just a zero rate, but the tax should be abolished. Lowering a rate is just an invitation to r...

A broad-ranging interview on economics and policy by Peter Robinson as part of the Hoover "Uncommmon Knowledge" series. Click ...

From the WSJ moneybeat blog : China’s central bank extended support on Friday to a group of unnamed but large banks...  the People’s Bank ...

I found Frank Bruni's opinion piece in the Sunday New York Times noteworthy on the whole question of rule of law in regulation: Hilla...

The Jan 9 Wall Street Journal had this nice graph, accompanying an article by Josh Zumbrun, " Top Economists Grapple with Public Disd...

Source: Real Clear Politics The electoral college is back in the news, with Democrats suddenly discovering it's a terrible idea. I...

How would you like to work at Hoover for a year, focusing on research with no teaching or other responsibilities, and soaking up the intelle...

A draft of a new paper is up on my webpage, " Michelson-Morley, Occam and Fisher: The Radical Implications of Stable Inflation at Near-...

Source: Wall Street Journal "President-elect Donald Trump owns a helicopter in Scotland. To be more precise, he has a revocable t...