Economic Policy Advice for Barack Obama

Rumors are swirling that Larry Summers is the front-runner for Fed Chair. Let me take a brief return to blogging to argue why he shouldn't be picked. I don't know much about his monetary polic...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2013/07/larry-summers-for-fed-chair.html

a friend asks... First off, I certainly do believe the Fed is by no means out of bullets. This is, of course, a longstanding debate -- originally it was Keynes vs. Milton Friedman -- on whethe...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/09/is-fed-out-of-bullets-canshould-it-do.html

Nominations Oversights May Be Obama's Biggest Sin . Especially if we throw Ben Bernanke into the mix...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/yglesias-has-this-right.html

> “Most of the economic policies that support robust economic growth > in the long run are outside the province of the central bank,” he > said. >  ... >  "The re...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/worse-than-i-thought.html

Always dangerous to make a prediction of an event which is very close to happening, but I think Krugman has it correct -- whatever Bernanke announces today it will be too little. And, the underwh...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/jackson-hole-is-here.html

Catherine Rampell asks "How much more can the Fed help the economy?" and answers that "there are reasons to believe the Fed’s remaining tools may be losing their potency." However, the evid...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/dear-nyt-fed-is-impotent-but-only-by.html

Via Matt Yglesias, FT Alphaville has a nice graphic showing how ECB rate increases -- responding to mostly temporary commodity price shocks -- have triggered the recent phase of the Euro-debt...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/ecb-still-crazy.html

Markets are apparently getting excited about the prospect of more intervention from the Fed. They would do well to temper those expectations, given that the most critical hard economic data -- u...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/dont-get-too-excited-about-jackson-hole.html

Longtime readers of this sight will know that TV is a big fan of, what I call, the Diamond-Crosby-Kamarck-Sachs theory of development. Hence, I'm looking forward to reading Thomas C. Mann's updat...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/seeds-germs-and-slaves.html

Economists for Obama reacts to the debt-deal with this: > Yuck. >  >  That's what I have to say about President Obama's capitulation to > the hostage-taking ways of congressi...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/economists-for-obama-no-longer_17.html

Never too late to chime in on the Texas Unmiracle, which Paul Krugman wrote a column about, and then blogged , twice . One particularly interesting aspect of The Texas Unmiracle is actually t...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/note-on-texas-unmiracle.html

Because the Fed is simply not impotent at the zero lower bound. There are a number of options the Fed now has, and market reactions, theory, and common sense all suggest that they can be effect...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/blame-it-on-fed.html

Good news: Thorstein Veblen is now cleared, once again, to blog. This blog will resume shortly, and could hardly come at a better time -- with economies mired in liquidity traps on both sides ...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/announcement-thorstein-veblen-now-able.html

This is TV's personal assistant, reporting on behalf of TV. I am proud to announce that Thorstein Veblen will resume blogging from the middle of next week. His current duties prevent him from c...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/announcement.html

Given chosen field -- graduate student, public service, and blogging, none of which pay much, T.V. is not above selling advertising space on this blog. It's far easier for me to rationalize time ...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/words-from-our-sponsors.html

Due to conflicts of interest arising from my current employment, this blog will come back to life in mid-August, 2011. Thanks to all my loyal readers who've written in over the years. I'm still...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/05/announcement.html

Marginal Revolution and Matt Yglesias both take swipes at the reason behind huge cost increases in higher education, and what can be done about it. I agree with Matt that a big part of the probl...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/02/cost-increases-in-higher-ed.html

OK, Mr. President, I think that proposing budget cuts in advance of the Republican onslaught, given the sheer craziness of our media and given the unfortunate state of public opinion, was likely ...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/02/budget-craziness.html

Anonymous writes in: "I'm curious -- why do you think Obama's new gang will be any better?" Simple, because Obama's new gang does not include Larry Summers! I think that really does imply that ...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/02/from-mailbag.html

As everyone is well aware, as of last month, Larry Summers is no longer a part of this administration. Hence, the name of this blog had become a touch anachronistic. While the original mission of...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/02/blog-name-changed.html

So, as far as I can tell (disclaimer: I know nothing about how the Senate works), to get Peter Diamond confirmed Reid would need 60 votes to file cloture. I have this on good word from a bar conv...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/02/about-those-fed-appointments.html

Not really any surprises in Peter Baker's article on the White House economic team. Still slightly annoying that reappointing Bernanke and waiting so long to fill the Fed vacancies doesn't regis...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/01/larry-summers-in-retrospect.html

What is the impact of Robots on Wages? Yglesias linked modeled behavior . My take, of course, is that it's impossible to say but that if there are specific jobs robots can do, then there is lik...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/01/robots-and-wages.html

This Administration just got better...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/01/larry-no-more.html

OK, the Euro, as a common currency, has probably not increased trade much, if at all. The basic logic -- separate fiscal authorities, and less-mobile labor markets in the US -- mean that it's cle...

http://firelarrysummersnow.blogspot.com/2011/01/euro.html