On day one, President Trump surprised business leaders gathered at the White House, declaring US regulations “out of control” and “in need of 75% or more reduction.” A week later, he boldly signed an executive order requiring repeal of two old rules for every new one that government agencies implement.
Nietzsche’s Great Politics. By Hugo Drochon. Princeton University Press, 2016. xv + 200 pages.
Even the most innocent novel can give its reader a fresh perspective on the economy during the author’s time. Economic writings and economic conditions often inspired great writers who, in turn, allowed us to contemplate either a glimpse or a detailed picture of economic reality. Stendhal was influenced by Malthus, Flaubert by Bastiat, and Ayn Rand by Mises. Other novelists faithfully described the economic times of their lives.
This week, Janet Yellen was again before Congress to once again kick the can down the road. The position of Yellen and the Fed appears to be, yet again, that they’ll some day move back toward what might be called more “normal” monetary policy.
In 2012, Robert Higgs analyzed the role of government purchases in the calculation of GDP and suggested that a more reliable reading of domestic product would exclude government purchases.
Higgs explained that — while government spending is fundamentally different from private-sector spending — the orthodox Keynesian notion of including government spending in calculations of economic growth has now become the norm:
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer’s February 11th speech at Warwick Economics Summit was built around a story from his youth:
According to the flow of funds data published by the Fed, the US debt to GDP ratio remains at a lofty level. Non-financial sector debt as a percentage of GDP stood at 251.7% in Q3 2016 against 230.1% in Q1 and 184.3% in Q1 2000.
Consumer credit as a percentage of GDP also remains at a record high — it stood at 19.9% in Q3 2016 against 15.8% in Q1 2000.
Donald Trump has been using and abusing national homicide statistics to suit his own political ends. But, using nationwide statistics — even correct ones — has long been problematic.
Mercantilism has had a “good press” in recent decades, in contrast to 19th-century opinion. In the days of Adam Smith and the classical economists, mercantilism was properly regarded as a blend of economic fallacy and state creation of special privilege.
