Archives: November 2008

The Textbook is Here!

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 23, Categories: Teaching

Sorry to interrupt this stream of gloom, but my textbook is finally here! It's called "Economics:The Basics" and I wrote it for the typical person who wants to learn about...

The Pitfalls of Obama's Plan

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 22, Categories: Fiscal Policy

Now it begins. This morning President-elect Obama took the first step towards asserting himself economically. He laid out not a detailed plan but a goal: To save or create 2.5...

Should Obama announce his economic plan soon?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 21, Categories: Political Economy

[Saturday morning: That didn't take long, did it?] Now that it seems likely that President-elect Barack Obama will select Tim Geithner as his next Treasury Secretary, should he soon announce...

Not Enough Yet

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 21, Categories: Macro

Summarizing my current views: --$3 trillion in overspending and overborrowing by U.S. consumers. Out of that: --$1 trillion in losses already absorbed by financial institutions. That's gone. --$1 trillion in...

GM: The More Things Change...

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 19, Categories: Corporations

Looking back through old Businessweeks, I came on this cover story from November 1, 1993: GM: Can Jack Smith Fix It? The answer, I guess, was no....

P.S. I Was Right About Deflation

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 19, Categories: Macro

Just to point out...back in July I wrote a post entitled "Yes, still deflation" in which I predicted that: Maybe I’m crazy, but this morning’s CPI number actually improves the...

Real Wages Up by Near Record--Good News?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 19, Categories: Labor Market

I've been on this kick about falling real wages for most workers being a major cause of the crisis (see here for example). The cost of all sorts of things,...

The Problem with the Auto Industry

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 16, Categories: Labor Market

I wasn't going to write about the auto industry today...but then I came on a column entitled "Where's the love? I never knew Detroit was a dirty word," by Susan...

Understanding the Dismal Science

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 14, Categories: Growth

As we think about digging our way out of our current hole, it's important to remember why economics is often called the 'dismal science'. Yes, there's a history behind the...

How Far Will Consumption Fall?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 13, Categories: Macro

Menzie Chinn at Econobrowser does a back of the envelope calculation and comes with this: a 3% y/y decline in consumption by 09Q3; the only comparable instance of such a...

Definition of Depression

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 12, Categories: Macro

When I was writing my 2000 book The Coming Internet Depression, I researched the definition of 'depression.' And of course what I found out was that there was no common...

Paulson faces reality

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 12, Categories: Financial markets

Listening to Hank Paulson’s speech today, one is impressed both by his flexibility and a barely-controlled underlying sense of panic. In a few short weeks, the Treasury Secretary has gone...

Do Crises and Growth Go Together?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 10, Categories: Financial Crisis

Nobody likes a financial crisis. But I was just reading an interesting piece by three economists, Romain Rancière, Aaron Tornell, and Frank Westermann. They argue that ...the bottom line remains...

To Economics Unbound Commenters

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 10, Categories: Journalism

I just wanted to say that I really enjoy reading the thoughts and comments of all the people who respond here. I like that we have a diversity of opinions....

The Revenge of the Healthcare Economy

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 07, Categories: Labor Market

In 2006 I did a story on healthcare jobs called "What's Really Propping Up The Economy." Well, here we are again. Here's a piece that I just posted online. Call...

Real Wages Continue to Fall

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 03, Categories:

Last week the employment cost index for the third quarter was released by the BLS. It showed that real wages and salaries dropped by an astonishing 1.8% in the third...