The desirability of federal budget surpluses became the conventional wisdom in the 1990s. This economist argues that ongoing surpluses will be damaging in several important ways. He proposes that the nation have its debt grow at the same rate as the GDP.

The Bush-Cheney years have been marked by a disappointing economic performance, reflected in a business cycle expansion that is by many measures the weakest since World War II. Moreover, not only has the expansion been weak, it also appears to be ending with a severe financial crisis and the...

Thomas Palley argues that the causes of the “Great Recession†are not primarily to be found in the asset bubble that was allowed to inflate in the housing market and in the financial sector. The bubbles actually reflect the longer-term basis for stagnation that originate in the...

It is widely recognized that economic crises can sometimes trigger enormous change, with regard to both economic theory and the politics of governance. Today, the global economy is struggling with the fall-out from the financial crash of 2008 and the Great Recession of 2007–2009. The...

This paper examines the theory of the Phillips curve, focusing on the distinction between “formation” of inflation expectations and “incorporation” of inflation expectations. Phillips curve theory has largely focused on the former. Explaining the Phillips curve by reference to...

The comeback of most Asian economies from the crises of 1997 put talk of reform on hiatus. But most agree that reform there should still be. The author revisits the controversies surrounding the Tobin tax.

In the arguments over how best to rebuild Iraq, too little attention has been given to channeling the benefits of its oil reserves. In fact, too many nations have squandered their natural resources. This economist proposes an interesting plan to ensure that some proportion of oil revenues in...

The model on which the world's most influential financial institutions base their development policies emphasizes export-led growth and supplyside development. It pays no attention to developing the domestic demand of economies, yet it is critical to growth. A fundamental political obstacle to...

Alan Greenspan will retire soon, and many analyses, most of them swooning, will soon be upon us. This economist offers an original and perhaps lasting postmortem on Greenspan's reign. He believes that Greenspan has been responsible for a new business cycle whose foundation is financial boom and...