Monday 18 November 2013

Summers regurgitates tired old macro cliches

Guessing what the 'correct' or 'true' natural interest rate is may be a worthwhile passe temps for tenured university professors like Larry Summers but it is of little use to explain/solve the pressing economic problems of our time. Such as Unemployment or Inequality. Both have little to do with macro economic mumbo jumbo but a lot with poorly designed policies and laws. Note the circular congratulations to Stanley Fischer etal - the world of 'celebrity' economists is a small one, but maybe a larger talent pool would not be such a bad thing, given the unhealthy trends in the world economy.