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Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

bloomberg.com

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Re: Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

#2

Post by tabtab »

I get a "please subscribe" pop-up and can't get rid of it without fiddling with the CSS editor. Anyhow...

Summary of Truisms:

1) During recessions, employers tend to lay off rather than reduce wages

2) Central bank stimulus helps recessions

3) Too much stimulus causes run-away inflation

4) Non-monetary problems like oil shocks and pandemics can cause recessions

5) Increasing population helps economies. ("Hump to de-slump?" Or immigration?)

Summary of areas of disagreement and mysteries:

1) Acceptable level of debt

2) Acceptable level of inflation

3) Effectiveness of public sector versus private sector stimulus. (The left emphasizes first, the right second.)

4) Measuring the true value of intellectual property

Re: Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

#3

Post by samspenc »

tabtab wrote: post #2

I get a "please subscribe" pop-up and can't get rid of it without fiddling with the CSS editor. Anyhow... Summary of Truisms: 1) During recessions, employers tend to lay off rather than reduce wages 2) Central bank stimulus helps recessions 3) Too much stimulus causes run-away inflation 4) Non-monetary problems like oil shocks and pandemics can cause recessions 5) Increasing population helps economies. ("Hump to de-s…

Thanks for the summary. There doesn't seem to be any way of getting around the Bloomberg paywall, outline.com doesn't work either.

Re: Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

#5

Post by tiahura »

samspenc wrote: post #3
tabtab wrote: post #2

I get a "please subscribe" pop-up and can't get rid of it without fiddling with the CSS editor. Anyhow... Summary of Truisms: 1) During recessions, employers tend to lay off rather than reduce wages 2) Central bank stimulus helps recessions 3) Too much stimulus causes run-away inflation 4) Non-monetary problems like oil shocks and pandemics can cause recessions 5) Increasing population helps economies. ("Hump to de-s…

Thanks for the summary. There doesn't seem to be any way of getting around the Bloomberg paywall, outline.com doesn't work either.

Reader view on iOS worked for me.

Re: Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

#6

Post by em500 »

samspenc wrote: post #3
tabtab wrote: post #2

I get a "please subscribe" pop-up and can't get rid of it without fiddling with the CSS editor. Anyhow... Summary of Truisms: 1) During recessions, employers tend to lay off rather than reduce wages 2) Central bank stimulus helps recessions 3) Too much stimulus causes run-away inflation 4) Non-monetary problems like oil shocks and pandemics can cause recessions 5) Increasing population helps economies. ("Hump to de-s…

Thanks for the summary. There doesn't seem to be any way of getting around the Bloomberg paywall, outline.com doesn't work either.

I get the full text after disabling JavaScript (Firefox).

Re: Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

#7

Post by xnx »

"I also think measures of price inflation are almost useless over the long run, because a person today consumes a very different bundle of goods than one in, say, 1950." I agree with this wholeheartedly. How do we put a value on the fact that, for the cost of no more than a day's labor, most in the US can have a handheld device with access to nearly the sum total of the world's knowledge and entertainment? No one, at any cost, could've had such a thing even 30 years ago.

Re: Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

#8

Post by auntienomen »

samspenc wrote: post #3
tabtab wrote: post #2

I get a "please subscribe" pop-up and can't get rid of it without fiddling with the CSS editor. Anyhow... Summary of Truisms: 1) During recessions, employers tend to lay off rather than reduce wages 2) Central bank stimulus helps recessions 3) Too much stimulus causes run-away inflation 4) Non-monetary problems like oil shocks and pandemics can cause recessions 5) Increasing population helps economies. ("Hump to de-s…

Thanks for the summary. There doesn't seem to be any way of getting around the Bloomberg paywall, outline.com doesn't work either.

View source, then copy & paste the relevant bits into an .html file.

Re: Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

#9

Post by phobosanomaly »

xnx wrote: post #7

"I also think measures of price inflation are almost useless over the long run, because a person today consumes a very different bundle of goods than one in, say, 1950." I agree with this wholeheartedly. How do we put a value on the fact that, for the cost of no more than a day's labor, most in the US can have a handheld device with access to nearly the sum total of the world's knowledge and entertainment? No one, at…

Agree as well.

We're seeing a lot of coming-to-terms with both the positive and negative fallout from this access.

Hopefully soon we might be able to start deriving a utility function based on what people are using the devices for, and then assigning positive and negative utility accordingly, with externalities factored in.

Then we could make an attempt at assigning dollar values, and begin to figure out what that means in an economic sense.

Re: Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics

#10

Post by WalterBright »

tabtab wrote: post #2

I get a "please subscribe" pop-up and can't get rid of it without fiddling with the CSS editor. Anyhow... Summary of Truisms: 1) During recessions, employers tend to lay off rather than reduce wages 2) Central bank stimulus helps recessions 3) Too much stimulus causes run-away inflation 4) Non-monetary problems like oil shocks and pandemics can cause recessions 5) Increasing population helps economies. ("Hump to de-s…

> During recessions, employers tend to lay off rather than reduce wages

There's a good reason for that. I've seen both done. An across-the-board wage reduction means your most productive leave. A layoff is getting rid of the least productive.

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