Category: Challenge

Reviving Fiscal Policy – John Maynard Keynes Laurence Seidman Fiscal stimulus has long been de-emphasized as a policy tool in the United States. This economist takes a long-needed look at the most prominent research in the field, reviews it for Challenge, and concludes that it is time to think about fiscal stimulus again. IN the […]

Fiscal policy will matter Wynne Godley Most people nowadays seem to think that fiscal policy cannot be used to influence economic activity, and they are supported in this view by the majority of professional macroeconomists. Students are taught that output and employment are determined by the demands and supplies of individuals interacting in a gigantic […]

The misguided attractions of foreign exchange controls – Reforming Globalization Robert Dunn, Jr. For many, the liberalization of capital flows was one of the causes of recent unstable financial markets around the world. Seemingly successful exchange controls in Malaysia suggest that such regulations can limit instability, as has been argued in previous issues of Challenge. […]

Reforming Globalization – Industry Trend or Event Jay Mandle Multinational firms have contributed to economic growth in the developing world. But the risk of growing corporate power is that it abuses this power. How does one balance the two concerns? Merely returning these countries to “localism” will not work, argues this economist. He offers his […]

Zero is not the optimal rate of inflation Thomas Palley Monetary policy and interest rates remain at center stage of the economic policy debate. During the last recession, the question was how fast and how low the Federal Reserve should lower interest rates. Now that the unemployment rate has fallen to a twenty-three-year low of […]

Robert Eisner: an appreciation – economist – Obituary James Galbraith Few economists have had more impact on public policy than Robert Eisner. James Galbraith knew him well and, after his death, assesses his contribution to the field. Two years ago, in a happier moment, I sent Bob Eisner a routine status check on my household: […]

Abolish the Nobel Prize for economics – How Fair Is the Nobel? Barbara Bergmann The author has long thought that the Nobel distorts the contributions of economists. In this no-holds-barred commentary, she tells why. The words “science” and “Nobel” carry a heavy load of glamour, and when they are used together, as in “Prize in […]

BusinessWeek restates the 1990s—incorrectly? – economic growth and income distribution – Column – Statistical Data Included Dean Baker A RECENT ISSUE OF BUSINESS WEEK featured a provocative cover story that offered a new interpretation of the economy’s pattern of growth in the 1990s (“Restating the 90s,” April 1,2002, p.50). The article claims that the big […]

The international financial crisis – International Solutions – interview with hedge fund manager George Soros – Interview Interview with George Soros George Soros is the best known hedge-fund manager in the world. He has bet aggressively against the world’s leading central banks and made billions of dollars in the process. But he is also a […]

A high-wage path to economic growth and development Morris Altman Economic theory provides us with the means to judge what is possible and what is not, what is reasonable and what is not, and what is plausible and what is not. Conventional economic theory supports the view that there is only one sustainable path to […]