Economics News with a Historical Perspective
May 17, 2012
The Econ Review features a historical perspective on economics news and opinions with daily updates. All original material is copyrighted. Off-site references open in new windows.
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Opinions
U.S. Budget Deficit
Discussion of the latest CBO budget projections can be found at the Economics Roundtable.
In the News
Payroll Employment
The increase of 115,000 jobs is not too promising.
U.S. Budget Deficit
Bar Graph
CBO Budget Projections
Historical Data
Inflation &
Unemployment
The Phillips Curve
John Cochrane uses very similar Phillips Curve charts to review recent history and current issues.
The Chart Room
Charts for GDP and payroll employment show the
historical patterns in this relationship. Custom select side-by-side
charts for these variables and interest rates and
yield curves.
Euro Roller Coaster
The wild ride continues.
Economics Roundtable
The
latest news and views.
Features
Oil Shocks Hit Supply Side
In the 1970's, oil prices rocketed to levels completely out of line with historical experience. The underlying cause was use of crude oil prices and availability as political weapons after war in the Middle East. Economists scrambled to understand the implications of these events for macroeconomic models. Models had not previously incorporated energy as a factor of production because the price of energy was relatively constant and thus not useful in explaining fluctuations in the economy. This was certainly not the case in the 1970's.
President Nixon Imposes Wage and Price Controls
August 15, 1971. In a move widely applauded by the public and a fair number of (but by no means all) economists, President Nixon imposed wage and price controls. The 90 day freeze was unprecedented in peacetime, but such drastic measures were thought necessary. Inflation had been raging, exceeding 6% briefly in 1970 and persisting above 4% in 1971. By the prevailing historical standards, such inflation rates were thought to be completely intolerable.
The Keynesians vs. the Monetarists
November 14, 1968. The debate between the Keynesians and the monetarists reached a milestone in an exchange between Milton Friedman and Walter W. Heller. The Seventh Annual Arthur K. Salomon Lecture at the Graduate School of Business Administration at New York University is recorded in Monetary vs. Fiscal Policy: A Dialogue, Milton Friedman and Walter W. Heller, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.: New York (1969).
Models
The Mundell-Fleming Model
The Mundell-Fleming Model adds a BP (balance of payments) curve to the standard IS/LM framework. This extension provides a mechanism for thinking about monetary policy under either fixed or floating exchange rates.
Additional models of interest are available at Classic Economic Models.
Econ Clubs
Check the directory of economics clubs to see if your club is listed. Links are free.