Sustained Inflation: Is a Monetary Policy Response Needed?

In November 2021, after being a guest on Josh Dukelow’s Fresh Take program, I posted two related pieces:  one on whether inflation was temporary or not and a second on the role of monetary policy.  It’s time for an update, especially since the inflation rate has risen significantly since November 2021 (see the below chart) … More Sustained Inflation: Is a Monetary Policy Response Needed?

Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet

A visit to my son’s family often provides me with an opportunity to read a book from my bucket list.  This time it was Climate Shock (2015), authored by the late Harvard economist Martin Weitzman and Columbia economist Gernot Wagner. I found this short (152 pages of formal text) book to be both informative for … More Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet

Degrowth: A Flawed Strategy to Address Climate Change

This posting is largely a response to “Degrowth can work – Here’s how science can help,” authored by Jason Hickel and his colleagues. It relates to alternative strategies to reduce CO2 emissions and concentration. I agree with the authors’ notion that not all income growth has equivalent value, but that doesn’t mean that developed economies … More Degrowth: A Flawed Strategy to Address Climate Change

Will the US Follow Sweden’s Approach to Zero Carbon Emissions?

In a February 16th posting on the Resources for the Future blog,  Burtraw and Fischer summarize key aspects of the Mistra Carbon Exit Swedish research project. This posting emphasizes three key observations in the report and then indicates why the US is unlikely to adopt the Swedish approach. To put the Swedish project in context, … More Will the US Follow Sweden’s Approach to Zero Carbon Emissions?

The Power of Creative Destruction

In Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (1942), Joseph Schumpeter argued that economies grow through a process of creative destruction; that is, new ideas, products, and services drive out old versions since they offer better value. Schumpeter characterized capitalism as founded on such a process, but he concluded this book with the argument that eventually the process … More The Power of Creative Destruction

The Fragility of Power

In The End of Power (2014) Moises Naim addresses the history and sources of power from the observations of Machiavelli (1513) and Hobbes (1651) through Nietzsche (1885), Weber (1922), Schumpeter (1942) and Mills (1956) to contemporary visionaries/pundits/exploiters such as George Soros, Silvio Berlusconi, and Rupert Murdoch. Naim argues that the More, Mobility, and Mentality revolutions … More The Fragility of Power