Jared Bernstein
- : Jared Bernstein is a senior economist at Economic Policy Institute. He is the author of the new book, "Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries)." His last book was All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy” and he is also the co-author of eight editions of the book The State of Working America. He has published extensively in popular and academic venues and is a frequent contributor to the cable station CNBC. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from Columbia University.
More Reasons to Worry about McCain-onomics
As Jonathan Taplin's discusses in an earlier post, candidate McCain gave a big economics speech today. Allow me to elaborate on why this stuff should scare you. First, the gas tax holiday is smart politics but lousy policy. As Taplin...more »
Posted on April 15, 2008 4:15 PM
Responding to Brad and Alan
The Great Merit Debate: OK, OK…mea culpa re the ambiguity of “merit.” I’m not trying to be elusive. I’m just trying to find words that work for lots of different readers from different walks of like. Let me be,...more »
Posted on April 11, 2008 5:09 PM
The Crunchian Take on Globalization
Now that we’ve debated the principles of Crunch economics for a few days, I wanted to post one of the questions and answers that make up the core of the book. This one’s about globalization. It’s longer than most...more »
Posted on April 9, 2008 1:13 PM
Responding to Alan Viard
Thanks to Alan Viard for a provocative analysis of the principles of Crunchian economics. Not surprisingly, we disagree on many fundamental points. Alan found principle #1 ambiguous, and since it’s central to a) the book, and b) my understanding...more »
Posted on April 8, 2008 10:18 PM
Response to Barbara
It’s great to have you here, Barbara, as you are always a voice of sanity in the wilderness. And thanks for getting us started—your entry raises great questions. “Crunch” really does purport to be more about how the economy...more »
Posted on April 8, 2008 1:16 AM
Let's Talk "Crunch"
First, I want to thank TPM’s Andrew Golis for setting up this book club. Second, I want to thank Brad DeLong, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Alan Viard for agreeing to post along with me on “Crunch” over the next few...more »
Posted on April 7, 2008 9:56 AM
Three Months of Job Losses=Recession
I don’t like to be dismal, but recessions just bring me down. They also bring down the number of jobs in the labor market, down 80,000 last month, the third month in a row that employment contracted and the largest...more »
Posted on April 5, 2008 12:08 AM
JB on PK vs BHO
Just about everything Paul Krugman says resonates deeply with me, so I was surprised by his less than positive take on Barack Obama’s recent speech wherein the candidate laid out his plans for dealing with both the mortgage meltdown and...more »
Posted on March 28, 2008 2:53 PM
Fed Lowers Benchmark Interest Rate by 50 Points (a satire...)
In a surprise move aimed at stimulating moribund financial markets and the larger economy, the Federal Reserve surprised markets with an unprecedented 50 point rate cut, taking their target rate down to -47%. The statement accompanying the surprise cut was...more »
Posted on March 18, 2008 10:02 AM
Total BS on Wall St.
The story of what’s happening on Wall St. is really pretty straightforward. It’s a classic bank run, this time on the investment bank formerly know as Bear Sterns, which we’ll just call by the apt acronym BS. Over the past...more »
Posted on March 17, 2008 9:28 AM
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In the 2000s (2000-07), real median wages grew about 3%; real median compensation grew about 6% and productivity grew about 20%, so that doesn't make much difference, ie, using total comp shaves about 3% points off of a 17 point gap.
Posted at April 12, 2008 4:34 PM in response to Merit, Globalization, and Optimal Tax Rates
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Joe,
Rob Scott at EPI has done some work on insourcing...search the site. I think he finds that there's less there than meets the eye.
On outsourcing, we've got a new'ish analysis you might find interesting.
http://www.epi.org/datazone/characteristics_of_offshorable_jobs.pdfI'll check out Wolf's book--I've not read it.
Thanks.
Posted at April 9, 2008 11:40 PM in response to The Crunchian Take on Globalization
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Ellen,
The point is not that they shouldn't make risky investments. They're welcome to buy futures on Martian wheat yields, as far as I'm concerned. The problem is that when such liabilities are kept off balance sheet, only deep insiders can accurately assess risk, and such non-transparency is really bad for the economy.
Similarly, neither you nor I have the information to judge whether BS was TBTF (too big to fail). But if the powers that be are going to make that call, at our expense (ie, the bail out), then oversight become critical--a no-brainer, really. At that point, we have an absolute right to know that the firm was as integral to the integrity of the system as we're being told. Like you, I'm skeptical, but also like you, I'm wholly in the dark.
That's the problem: it's a shadow financial system and it needs to be brought into the light.
Posted at April 8, 2008 9:22 AM in response to Response to Barbara
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Yes, I absolutely think you can make this case on an efficiency basis. The current system is a huge burden on employers and fraught with wasteful inefficiences. Of course, those inefficiencies have many beneficiaries, in the insurance industry and big Pharma, eg, and they won't go gently into that good night.
Which is why the current reform plans--eg HRC and BHO--goes through them, not around them.
Posted at April 8, 2008 8:06 AM in response to Let's Talk "Crunch"
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Don't know but I'll check.
Posted at April 8, 2008 12:14 AM in response to Let's Talk "Crunch"
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Actually, just stumbled on some more details. I fear there's less here than meets the eye. Predicitably...
More to come.
Posted at March 31, 2008 12:12 AM in response to JB on PK vs BHO
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Good idea...maybe I'll try if I can find a minute.
First blush: good start--necessary consolidation, and some new oversight of investment banks by the Fed. I'm just not sure the Fed are the right folks to take this on. They're congenitally laissez-faire on such matters, I think.
Posted at March 30, 2008 8:19 AM in response to JB on PK vs BHO
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Good question. Both HRC and BHO support the Frank/Dodd plan I mention in the post. Under that plan, the gov't, through the FHA, underwrites mortgages in exchange for significant write-downs of the principal--20-50% probably.
What HRC seems to be saying is that if this doesn't work, the gov't should buy the failing mortgages, not just underwrite them. It's more interventionary, but not that different, really. Also, we'd want to see first if Frank/Dodd works before we go to this next step.
Posted at March 30, 2008 8:16 AM in response to JB on PK vs BHO
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Good point...pardon the snark. And I think Paul meant more what you said than what I implied.
The point was that caution and orthodoxy are not the right evaluative criteria. The right questions are the ones I ask at the end of my post: are these the right ideas?
Posted at March 29, 2008 5:52 PM in response to JB on PK vs BHO
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Well, I don't want to overdo this. Paul K is one of the most important progressive voices in the world, and not just on econ policy, but on the war too.
When he goes on vacation, I really miss his column, and how many writers can you say that about?
And he's right: HRC has a lot of good ideas too--her health plan trumps Baracks, eg.
I just thought he uncharacteristically missed some good stuff in O's speech.
Posted at March 28, 2008 11:29 PM in response to JB on PK vs BHO
