Random Observations for Students of Economics
Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would increase wages for at least 17 million people, but also put 1.4 million Americans out of work, according to a study by the Congressional Budget Office released on Monday.
A phase-in of a $15 minimum wage would also lift some 900,000 out of poverty, according to the nonpartisan CBO. This higher federal minimum could raise wages for an additional 10 million workers who would otherwise make sightly above that wage rate, the study found.
Potential job losses were estimated to affect 0.9 percent of workers, the CBO wrote, adding: "Young, less educated people would account for a disproportionate share of those reductions in employment."
Sebastian Mallaby was a good column on the GameStop phenomenon.
A family member also suggested a good hypothesis: The bubble is being being driven by internet trolls. The right model of a troll is a person willing to waste his time and money to get other people to waste their time and money.
If you want to see me at the upcoming virtual ASSA meeting, you can do so at this session:
Larry Summers makes a good case that, on this issue, Mitch McConnell is right, and Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer are wrong.
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.
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.
I was recently interviewed by Michael Klein for the Econofact podcast. You can listen to the podcast by clicking here.
The number of permanent job losses is rising but still nowhere near the level in 2008-2009. (Click on graphic to enlarge.)
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.
I am the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University. I use this blog to keep in touch with my current and former students. Teachers and students at other schools, as well as others interested in economic issues, are welcome to use this resource.
