Macroeconomics

Is Economics a Science?

The 2022 Nobel prize in economics will be announced tomorrow, Monday, October 10. Of course, it is not a “real” Nobel prize but rather the “Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel” but I will use the conventional phrase “Nobel prize in economics.” The official name does raise an interesting question. Why …

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Economists Knowingly Publish Papers with Errors

I have documented errors in economics papers and pointed out the arguments for why economists say they can’t do better. In a real science, authors would fix errors others have found before publishing their paper. Not in economics. In 2001, I became aware of a working paper version of “Equilibrium Welfare and Government Policy with …

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Congress Investigates DSGE Models: One Witness Says Big Problem Is The Lack of Brain Power

You may have guessed that I enjoy poking the ruling elite in economics. That was the case with a self-declared tyrant that threatens the careers of my students, a Fed VC who thinks it is best to have neither his students at Columbia nor researchers at the Fed be trained in modern computational skills, and …

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Macroeconomists endorse Barro (1979). I prefer Dehejia and Rowe (1995).

At today’s macro conference hosted by John Taylor, George Hall presented his paper with Tom Sargent titled “Three world wars: Fiscal-monetary consequences” at today’s Taylor conference. James Bullard asked Hall and Sargent to compare their analysis of taxation and spending with the Barro theory. In their paper, Hall and Sargent say “After World War I …

Macroeconomists endorse Barro (1979). I prefer Dehejia and Rowe (1995). Read More »