Category: Economics

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

I am tired of seeing a certain argument against the minimum wage that makes absolutely no sense. According to this argument — which Christina Romer is now guilty of making — we should not increase the minimum wage because increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit is an even better way to improve the lot of… Continue reading The garbage logic of the EITC alternative to the minimum wage

If you watch Fox News or listen to any conservative pundits, you will hear about Reagan on an almost daily basis, usually in reference to his economic success. Generally, the liberal pundit response is very underwhelming. At worst, you get some mention of deficits (which were of course high under Reagan) and at best you… Continue reading The Reagan Myth

I am writing this basic explainer post by request. The primary goal is not to criticize trickle-down economics, but to actually explain what it is. To do that, I think it is helpful to first explain what it is not. For some reason, lay advocates of trickle-down economics often wrongly describe it as a demand-side… Continue reading On trickle-down economics

It is easy to forget, but when the financial crisis first hit, there was a pet theory being floated out by conservatives that this was all caused by the Community Reinvestment Act. The Community Reinvestment Act prevents certain banks from using redlining and other racially discriminatory lending practices. Not surprisingly, conservatives have never been big… Continue reading Note on Community Reinvestment Act