What I've Been Watching

I just finished The Queen's Gambit, the Netflix miniseries about a young woman who is an orphan and chess prodigy. Great show. Highly recommended.

Trump rallies have killed 700 people

 ...says new research by Bernheim et al.

The airlines don't need a safety net

 ...says Roger Lowenstein.

Economics Teaching Conferences

Readers of this blog might be interested in the annual conference of NETA, the National Economics Teaching Association, sponsored by Cengage, the publisher of my principles text. This year, the conference is October 22-23, virtual, and free. I will be speaking at 11 am on the 23rd. You can get information about the event by clicking here.

Also, a week earlier, I will be speaking at EconEd, a virtual conference organized by Macmillan, the publisher of my intermediate macro book.

Econofact Podcast

I was recently interviewed by Michael Klein for the Econofact podcast. You can listen to the podcast by clicking here.

Call me 3380

Here is a website that uses some sort of computer algorithm to measure academic influence. Here is a ranking of most influential academics of all time. Aristotle, Darwin, Plato, Einstein, Marx, and Newton top the list. (I am number 3380.) Here is an article about recently influential economists.

Immunology, meet economics

Click here to read my column in this Sunday's New York Times.

Comparing Two Recessions: Update

 The number of permanent job losses is rising but still nowhere near the level in 2008-2009. (Click on graphic to enlarge.)

An Excellent Idea

From Robert Litan: Once a Covid vaccine is approved, pay people to take it. 

Teaching the Covid-19 Recession

This summer I have been working to prepare the manuscript for the 11th edition of my intermediate macroeconomics textbook, which will be available next year. Of course, the new edition will include a discussion of the current economic downturn and the policy response to it. 

To help those teaching undergraduate-level macroeconomics this year, I have posted a piece of the manuscript at this link. Feel free to distribute it to your students.

News from Amazon

Thank you all. Have a great semester!

A comparison I never expected

"It would be like listing the five top guitarists from the 1960s and not including Jimi Hendrix."

The High Cost of PPP Jobs

Economists have begun to study the effects of the Paycheck Protection Program, on which Congress spent about half a trillion dollars. The results so far do not look good. Chetty et al. write:

We therefore conclude that the PPP had little material impact on employment at small businesses: we cannot rule out a small positive employment effect of the program (of e.g., 3-4 pp on employment rates), but it is clear that the program did not restore the vast majority of jobs that were lost following the COVID shock.

The study by Autor et al. has a more positive tone. But notice this sentence, deep in the bowels of the paper:

Our benchmark estimates imply that each job supported by the PPP cost between $162K and $381K through May 2020, with our preferred employment estimate implying a cost of $224K per job supported.

This estimate of cost per job suggests that the program was not a good use of public funds. I am not surprised. That is why, early on, I suggested that fiscal responses should focus on helping people rather than propping up businesses, as in this proposal of mine.

On Shareholders and Stakeholders

Click here to read my column in Sunday's New York Times.

Hard To Believe

No matter how bad President Trump gets, he can always get worse.

Ungated version of Post story.

A Podcast Interview

You can hear a recent interview of me by clicking here.

Modules for Introductory Econ

Here is some information for those teaching introductory economics using my favorite textbook.

I have written four modules, or mini-chapters, with optional material that instructors can include in their courses. For instructors using the digital version of the book, these modules can be added for free with a few mouse clicks. As of now, there are modules on the following topics:

• The Economics of Healthcare
• The European Union
• The Keynesian Cross
• How Economists Use Data

I expect to add more modules to the library available to instructors in the years to come.

To get a sense of what these are like, here is a link to an old version of the healthcare module.

For more information about these modules or the book more generally, contact your Cengage rep or John Carey.

The Declining Role of the CEA

According to this article, Tomas Philipson, the acting chair of the Council of Economic Advisers who just resigned, has tested positive for Covid-19. What caught my eye in the article was this sentence:

A White House official told the Journal that Trump and Philipson spent little time together, though the two were seen standing close to each other on June 5 at an event in the Rose Garden.

When I was CEA chair, I was in the West Wing every day and would see the president two or three times a week, typically in the Oval Office or the Roosevelt Room (the conference room adjacent to the Oval). It is not a good sign if the CEA chair spends little time with the president, especially in light of the fact that the nation is now experiencing the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. (Philipson's specialty, by the way, is health economics, which might have been useful under current circumstances.)

Eater of Souls?

Source. Click on image to enlarge.

Rap for Econ 101

Some years ago, I plugged some rap songs designed to be used in classrooms for introductory economics. The creators alert me that these songs can now be found here. They also note that the songs on elasticity and regulation are their personal favorites.