Economics News with a Historical Perspective
February 8, 2010
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. Payroll Employment
Commentary on the latest U.S. payroll employment figures can be found at the Economics Roundtable.
In the News
Inflation &
Unemployment
The Phillips Curve
NEW FORMAT now covers
six countries plus the U.S.
Payroll Employment
Revised figures reveal a new low. Jobs are below the minimum reached in the previous recession. Recent History Long-Term Chart.
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
Other data pages include Unemployment Rate, Federal Budget Deficit, Real Interest Rates and Inflation, and Fed Funds Rate.
Economics Roundtable
Features
President John F. Kennedy
1960. The election of John F. Kennedy marked the entry of university professors (including a fair number of Keynesians) into the Federal government. Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisors was Walter Heller, Kermit Gordon, and James Tobin. The CEA staff included senior economists Arthur Okun and Robert Solow. (Tobin and Solow later received Nobel Prizes.) The major economic event arising from this influx was the Kennedy-Johnson tax cut, which took effect during the Johnson administration.
The Phillips Curve
1958. Phillips, A. W. H. "The Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rates in the United Kingdom, 1861-1957." Economica NS 25, no. 2 (1958): 283-99.
Bretton Woods Convention Reorganizes World Economy
July 22, 1944. Meeting in the resort town of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, representatives of forty-one nations established conditions for international economic linkages. The conference created two new institutions, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The centerpiece, however, was agreement on a system of fixed exchange rates specifically designed to avoid repeating the mistakes of the interwar period.
Models
The Classical Model
The Classical Model of Production and Employment focuses on the supply and demand for a single factor of production, labor, assuming that capital is fixed in the short run. Equilibrium in the labor market then determines the real wage rate and the level of output. This model provides an important reference point for understanding the innovations in the Keynesian models.
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.