New post at Policy Shop. Having a little fun with this piece at Bloomberg. Excerpt: The bond program also seems to misunderstand the nature of the carbon pollution problem. The bonds are supposed to be sold and redeemed based on estimates of the social cost of a given unit of carbon pollution. But carbon pollution… Continue reading Policy Shop: The Carbon Tax Is Appropriately Rated
Bitcoin + Growth = Deflation
Assume that generally MV=PY, where M is money supply, V is velocity of money, P is the price level, and Y is real GDP. Now assume that we have a bitcoin currency with a fixed money supply (M) and the velocity of money (V) is also constant. If real GDP (Y) increases, the only way… Continue reading Bitcoin + Growth = Deflation
Policy Shop: Job Training Is Not the Answer
New post at Policy Shop. Excerpt: You cannot fix a problem caused by there not being not enough available jobs by training people to do jobs. It won’t work. To be sure, it would help some people get jobs in areas where there not enough workers with the right skills, given that many employers say… Continue reading Policy Shop: Job Training Is Not the Answer
Why I Tend to Disbelieve Employers
So some employers say that they cannot find qualified workers. Maybe that is the case in some situations, but there is a basic problem with the notion that this is holding things back. That basic problem is that if you cannot find qualified workers, you can find unqualified workers and make them qualified. If there… Continue reading Why I Tend to Disbelieve Employers
Just Give Everyone Food Stamps
The right-wing is getting riled up about food stamps, again. Sean Hannity even dedicated an entire hour to the food stamp program last week, with predictable messaging about how it is exploding and a scourge on the country. While the purpose of this manufactured outrage is to get rid of or dramatically shrink the food stamp program,… Continue reading Just Give Everyone Food Stamps