Public Debt Got a Lot Worse from the Great Recession to the Great Lockdown

The 2020 recession, which many countries are still going through, now has an “official” name: the Great Lockdown. In economic terms, the public sector’s response in practically all countries has been very swift and bold (which is not necessarily a good thing).1  This has caused the global public debt to skyrocket as never before.

Why the Misuse of the Word “Efficiency” Is Such a Problem

An important impediment to understanding valuable insights economists have to offer is that they have trained people to ignore their pronouncements on efficiency. Economists’ common use of a standard of efficiency known as “potential compensation,” which is at odds with a more important concept in which efficiency is advanced whenever there is a Pareto improvement (named after Vilfredo Pareto), is a major reason.

It’s Not Just Powell

As the face of the organization, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell should bear the brunt of anyone’s perturbation over the central bank’s anti-capitalism stance. However, it’s not just Powell who seems to be out of touch with the majority of Americans. On Thursday, the newest Fed Governor, Christopher J. Waller, gave a speech on his outlook and monetary policy at Drexel University.