Feldstein on Brexit

Marty appraises the fallout.

Brexit in a Snapshot

A friend sends along this summary:

Yellen at Radcliffe

On the Alesina Hypothesis

In my  recent NY Times article, I explored several hypotheses to explain slow growth. One was based on work by Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna suggesting that the standard Keynesian view of tax and spending multipliers is inconsistent with the international evidence. 

Paul Krugman says the Alesina-Ardagna work has been "refuted."  Nothing could be further from the truth.  See this recent paper by Alesina, Favero, and Giovazzi on fiscal consolidations, which reports evidence consistent with the earlier work and is forthcoming in the peer-reviewed Journal of International Economics.  (By the way, this work is also consistent with the Romers' finding of large tax multipliers, much larger than the literature finds for spending multipliers.)

To be sure, these issues continue to be debated. Remember: My piece was presenting hypotheses about what has been happening in the economy, not taking a stand about which one is right. From my perspective, the Alesina work suggests a still plausible hypothesis.

What's wrong with the economy?

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

Bad ideas never die

In the Silicon Valley suburbs, activists are pushing for laws that limit rents, even though, as the article says, "economists have an almost universally dim view of rent control."

Summers on Trump

Larry says the Donald would be a disaster.

Elinor Ostrom in the news (sort of)

A friend emails me:

This article in the today's NY Times discusses how musicians who play near the site where John Lennon died have had trouble managing the common resource of a strategically placed park bench. Currently, however, they have worked out an informal arrangement that appears to work well. The article reminded me of the work of Elinor Ostrom, who was awarded  the Nobel Prize in part for her work on self-governance of the commons.