Jared Bernstein

In this good post, Jared Bernstein, who is one of the few prominent writers in economics who is often close to being right, asks “How Did Things Get So Screwed Up?” he answers that it's money, ideology, and a rejection of fact-based policy analysis. more »

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There’s just something about manufacturing. more »

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After stating his general approval for Dylan Matthews's, MMT post on Ezra Klein's blog, and his agreement with MMT on the issue of solvency, a big point that MMT's been trying to get across to the mainstream for years, more »

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The reaction to January's jobs report shows how tragically our expectations have fallen, especially among some Democrats and their supporters. Their cheerleading isn't just bad policy or bad politics, although it is both of those things. It's also callous and insensitive to the misery of millions.

It's important to keep explaining what needs to be done to end that misery. To do otherwise is to serve, however unintentionally, an insidious agenda from the right that would lower our expectations until these tragic levels of unemployment are seen as the "new normal."

An increase in jobs is a good thing, of course, even if it's far from what's needed. Here's something else that was good about the report: Conservatives keep telling us that manufacturing jobs have moved offshore permanently, but 50,000 of them were created last month. Now we can put that argument to bed and can get to work creating more of them. more »

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The old folks used to say money was "the root of all evil." Anyone watching our economy over the last few years might be tempted to say that "evil is the root of all money," or to paraphrase that old John Lennon lyric about God and say that "Money is a concept by which we measure our pain."

But there's more to be said on the subject - by Kanye West and Jay-Z, by William Jennings Bryan, by the great Chuck D and the immortal Otis Redding.

Pain Threshold

Last week economist Jared Bernstein mentioned Buddhism's "Eightfold Path" in a blog post. I hope I didn't embarrass him by drawing attention to it. Frankly, I was mostly killing time. My activities are limited because one of my hands is in a brace. It's the result of days spent obsessively playing and rearranging an old song to try making a version that's my own - not as good as other versions, maybe, but my own. My tendons and muscles aren't used to that kind of work anymore.

So with the one-finger magic of Twitter I mentioned Bernstein's link and wondered if economics might be the science of quantifying dukka. That Buddhist word is usually translated from Pali as "sorrow." In one of those fun, unexpected online moments, Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg replied that "Dukka = Pain." I responded, "$ is a concept by which we measure our pain."

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Giving companies money does not mean they'll hire. more »

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There's reason to believe that the White House held back on helping struggling homeowners because it was afraid of a Tea Party backlash. That was exactly the wrong response, politically as well as economically. Bolder and more effective action would have weakened the anxiety and frustration driving that movement. By fearing the Tea Party, the Administration has only made it stronger. more »

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Now that Larry Summers is leaving, the President has a decision to make. His choice of a replacement will send a signal about the next two years of economic policy. That signal can restore consumer confidence and reinvigorate the electorate, or it can lead to even more discouragement and despair. Today unnamed Administration officials floated the idea of naming a corporate executive to the position. That's a trial balloon that should be punctured immediately.

The thirty-year-old law school graduate who asked the President yesterday, "Is the American dream over for me?" might interpret a choice like that as a 'yes' - unless he also happens to be a Fortune 500 CEO. Fortunately, there are much better candidates to be found elsewhere. more »

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