The Economic Profession Messed Up

http://twitter.com/paramendra/status/3770105844

And here we have one of them owning up to it.

How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? Paul Krugam, New York Times ....... in a 2008 paper titled “The State of Macro” (that is, macroeconomics, the study of big-picture issues like recessions), Olivier Blanchard of M.I.T., now the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, declared that “the state of macro is good.” The battles of yesteryear, he said, were over, and there had been a “broad convergence of vision.” ........ the “central problem of depression-prevention has been solved,” declared Robert Lucas of the University of Chicago in his 2003 presidential address to the American Economic Association ........ Last year, everything came apart. ........ the 1987 stock crash, in which the Dow plunged nearly 23 percent in a day for no clear reason ......... U.S. households have seen $13 trillion in wealth evaporate. More than six million jobs have been lost ........ even as the recession continued to deepen, conventional monetary policy had lost all traction. ....... flaws-and-frictions economics will move from the periphery of economic analysis to its center. ....... has brought the world economy to its knees. .......... “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” ........ until now the impact of dysfunctional finance hasn’t been at the core even of Keynesian economics. ......... financial markets fall far short of perfection, that they are subject to extraordinary delusions and the madness of crowds ........ H. L. Mencken: “There is always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible and wrong.”

Globoeconomics: Name Of The Game

Micro To Macro To Globo

70 years back the economic profession went up one notch, from micro to macro. Now is the time to go up another notch: from macro to globo. The churn we see is of a US and a global economy tumbling to the global winds. New, robust, global institutions are needed, old ones have to be reinvented.

Old Jobs: Gone Jobs

The Great Depression saw the loss of countless agricultural jobs that never came back. World War II had to create a new set of industrial jobs. The old industrial jobs now lost in America will likely never come back. The country will have to make new strides and create many, many post-industrial jobs.

A Misguided Stimulus?

I thought a big chunk of the stimulus was going to go to ensure universal broadband. Instead they went to old highways, the offline kind.

Another War?

Will a full-fledged war to ensure a total spread of democracy in the Arab world finally get America out of the flunk? Could that be a war that brings about Iran-like mass movements? Is that war essentially one of communications technology?

The purpose of stimulus September 4, 2009 the recession — again, as officially defined — is over. ...... But unemployment is still very high and rising
A strange madness September 4, 2009 Something is going very wrong in the heads of a substantial number of Americans.
My whereabouts September 4, 2009

1. Jobless in America: Is Double-Digit Unemployment Here to Stay? Time
   
2. Guess What Texting Costs Your Wireless Provider?
3. Behold! Facebook Gives Birth to the Retrosexual
4. The Next Mayor of Atlanta: A Post-Racial Campaign?
5. As Election Nears, Germans Feel Another Wall Rising

Related articles by Zemanta

• Krugman on how economists got it so wrong (loomnie.com)
• IMF says world economy is recovering (dailyfinance.com)
• IMF Economist Warns of 'Deep Scars' From Crisis (blogs.wsj.com)
• IMF cuts Britain's growth forecast (telegraph.co.uk)
• UK economy to recover earlier than IMF thought (telegraph.co.uk)
• IMF predicts stronger rebound in 2010 (financialpost.com)
• World Bank Cuts Forecast for Developed Economies (nytimes.com)
• IMF's Top Economist: Recession and High Unemployment Likely to Persist (usnews.com)
• Which recovery are we talking about? (economist.com)
• Is the Stimulus Working? (themoderatevoice.com)
• Robert Allen Calls The Bottom Of The Real Estate Market (prweb.com)
• House construction and inflation data lift US hopes (telegraph.co.uk)
• Deficit Expected to Hit $9 Trillion for Decade (politicalwire.com)
• Unemployment Rate Rises To 9.7%, Highest Rate Since March 1983 (belowthebeltway.com)
• Frugality Is The New Normal: Consumer Spending Not Expected To Return To Pre-Recession Levels (huffingtonpost.com)
• Paul A. London: We Are Not Dependent on Foreign Countries for Our Own Money (huffingtonpost.com)
• The Future Of Car Buying: Small Cars Are Now American Favorites (huffingtonpost.com)
• Wholesale Prices Fell In July, Showed Biggest Drop In 60 Years Over Last Year (huffingtonpost.com)
• Wind could cut China emissions 30% (guardian.co.uk)
• Tire wars: Another Big Labor payoff that will cost American jobs (michellemalkin.com)
• Year after Lehman Fall, Obama Touts Change (cbsnews.com)
• McCain: Kennedy's Absence Is Damaging Health Care's Prospects (huffingtonpost.com)
• A Hard Line on Illegal Immigrants and Health Care (swampland.blogs.time.com)
• Wilson Facing Possible Censure Head-On (huffingtonpost.com)

Thomas L. Friedman: Our One-Party Democracy New York Times It is not an accident that China is committed to overtaking us in electric cars, solar power, energy efficiency, batteries, nuclear power and wind power. ....... “Just because Obama is on a path to give America the Romney health plan with McCain-style financing, does not mean the Republicans will embrace it — if it seems politically more attractive to scream ‘socialist’ ” ....... no one needs the burden of health insurance shifted from business to government more than American business. No one needs immigration reform — so the world’s best brainpower can come here without restrictions — more than American business. No one needs a push for clean-tech — the world’s next great global manufacturing industry — more than American business. Yet the G.O.P. today resists national health care, immigration reform and wants to just drill, baby, drill.

White House Reveals Obama Is Bipolar, Has Entered Depressive Phase

Obama Drastically Scales Back Goals For America After Visiting Denny's