Plain Sense Economics

Thanks to a tip from Greg Mankiw’s blog – we learn that Oregon was the first state to impose a tax on gasoline – back in 1919. This article in Wired describes the interest of the state to fund highway projects, including the Columbia River Highway up the Gorge. So, this isn’t really an [...]

In our macro class last week we talked about the conflicts between a strategy of prudent saving during hard times, and the need for consumers to increase aggregate demand by spending.
This leads us to the fiscal (sometimes called the Keynesian) multiplier – where government stimulus funds (added spending or tax cuts) cascade through the economy [...]

This chart from Time/CNN’s blog “Curious Capitalist” shows job losses for recessions dating back to 1974. You have to look carefully, but the light blue line is our current recession, dated as starting Dec. ‘07. We are approaching the percent job loss seen in the early 80s.
The other interesting line shows what happened in our [...]

These interesting times carry blessings and curses for economists. Suddenly fellow Rotary Club members, faculty colleagues, and neighbors want to know my opinions. On the other hand, my opinions are based on pretty sketchy knowledge.
I’ve purposefully not dug into the specifics of the various House and Senate bills that are now headed for a collision [...]