The right-wing claims that increasing the federal debt steals from the future generation. This is wrong. First, the federal debt never needs to be repaid, only the interest on the federal debt. Second, most of the federal debt is held by Americans. When the future generation pays money towards that debt, they will be paying… Continue reading Short summary: the federal debt is not a generational issue
Author: Matt Bruenig
Latest Fed report on student debt
The Federal Reserve released another report on household debt in the past week or so. The report’s detailing of student debt trends has received considerable attention, including from the New York Times. Since our society loves to tell this hilarious story about our institutions of higher education being factories of egalitarianism and social mobility, this… Continue reading Latest Fed report on student debt
Yglesias and Ackerman in violent internet fight
Matt Yglesias had a post about left economic mistakes a few days ago. I responded in turn, focusing only on how it is completely legitimate to be worried about productivity-enhancing layoffs that happen within a social structure that does little to ensure those laid off continue to do well. I argued that Yglesias hastily concluded… Continue reading Yglesias and Ackerman in violent internet fight
Yglesias on left economic mistakes
Matt Yglesias has a post today explaining that the only way to increase someone’s real income is by decreasing someone else’s real income. He rightly points out that some on the left are confused about this. They tend to think about jacking up wages only in terms of the workers who got a higher wage… Continue reading Yglesias on left economic mistakes
Why are unpaid internships on the rise?
Suppose that the following things are basically true: Good jobs go to those who have the most credentials, be that degrees, experience, or otherwise. The supply of good jobs in our economy is scarce and basically not growing. The number of people amassing credentials to compete for those jobs is growing. If these are true,… Continue reading Why are unpaid internships on the rise?