I was struck by how comically bad this Josh Barro piece is today. Let’s count the ways. Imagine if we bought food the way we buy housing. Instead of buying the food you need right now, you would buy a contract giving you rights to a stream of food in perpetuity. Say, a contract entitling… Continue reading Imagine people did things they already do
Category: Finance
Socialize finance to reduce inequality
I’ve been going on and on and on about socializing finance ever since Seth Ackerman’s pulled the idea out of relative obscurity by writing a piece about it in Jacobin. Without going into the particulars of how it is done, the basic idea is to have the government buy up some (or perhaps all) financial… Continue reading Socialize finance to reduce inequality
How to socialize finance tomorrow
Matt Yglesias has a piece today about how the current state of the bond market permits profitable leveraged buyouts. The interest rates on junk bonds have now dipped below the rate of return for the S&P 500 as a whole. So, if someone was able to put it together, they could raise a bunch of… Continue reading How to socialize finance tomorrow
John Quiggin criticizes socializing finance
John Quiggin of Crooked Timber fame has a post on the Jacobin website today critiquing a recent article on socializing finance by Seth Ackerman. After Ackerman’s piece was published, I wrote two sympathetic posts (I, II) about the idea of socializing finance. Quiggin is skeptical. In his response, Quiggin does not appear to take exception… Continue reading John Quiggin criticizes socializing finance
Socialize finance!
Seth Ackerman has a fantastic piece (a primer if you will) in the latest Jacobin. At the heart of the piece is an explanation of the economic calculation problem, and the challenge it poses to the realization of socialism. For those interested in this sort of thing, the discussion is pretty standard, but still worth… Continue reading Socialize finance!