ATHENS – A visit to Greece leaves many vivid impressions. There are, of course, the country’s rich history, abundance of archeological sites…

CANBERRA – The brouhaha over Carmen Reinhart’s and Kenneth Rogoff’s article “Growth in a Time of Debt” may be the most conspicuous and incen…

BERKELEY – Imagine two central banks. One is hyperactive, responding aggressively to events. While it certainly cannot be accused of ignorin…

BRUSSELS – Sentiment in European financial markets has turned. For the moment, the possibility of a Greek exit from the eurozone is off the …

TOKYO – The economics profession has not had a good crisis. Queen Elizabeth II may have expected too much when she famously asked why econom…

MANILA – Eighty years ago this month, Ferdinand Pecora, the cigar-chomping former assistant district attorney for New York City, was appoint…

BERKELEY – Europe’s crisis has entered a quiet phase, which is no accident. The current period of relative calm coincides with the approach …

LONDON – Is Europe’s crisis over? Investors, policy analysts, and even officials are quietly beginning to suggest that this might be the cas…

SEOUL – Last month, China unveiled its first aircraft carrier, and is gearing up to challenge the United States in the South China Sea. By i…

BERKELEY – The party platform adopted at the Republican National Convention includes a number of remarkable planks. To a monetary economist,…

BERKELEY – In August, Europeans head for the beach. The continent shuts down on the assumption that nothing of consequence will happen until…

BERKELEY – Europe’s leaders, unlike former US President George H. W. Bush, have never had trouble with the “vision thing.” They have always …

BERKELEY – The United States today is facing a crisis of long-term unemployment unlike anything it has seen since the 1930’s. Some 40% of th…

ROME – Increasingly, one hears predictions that the euro will go the way of the gold standard in the 1930’s. And, increasingly, the reasonin…

BERKELEY – Last December, with Europe’s financial system on the brink of disaster, the European Central Bank stunned the markets with an unp…

BERKELEY – There is no shortage of talk nowadays about Europe’s deficits and the need to correct them. Critics point to governments’ gaping …

CAPE TOWN – At last, European leaders have revealed their top-secret plan for solving the euro’s crisis. And it is – drum roll – a version o…

BERKELEY – The euro crisis shows no signs of letting up. While 2011 was supposed to be the year when European leaders finally got a grip on …

SHANGHAI – Nowadays there is no shortage of pundits, economic or otherwise, warning of impending disaster. If right, they are hailed as seer…

BERKELEY – It may be hard to imagine that Europe’s crisis could worsen, but it just has. European Union leaders failed at their summit two w…

BERKELEY – After a year and half of delay and denial, Greece is about to restructure its debts. This, by itself, will not be enough to draw …

BERKELEY – Europe is again on the precipice. The most recent Greek rescue, put in place barely six weeks ago, is on the brink of collapse. T…

BERKELEY – For more than a half-century, the US dollar has been not only America’s currency, but the world’s as well. It has been the domina…

BERKELEY – It should now be clear to even the most blinkered observer that the Greek economy is in desperate need of help. Unemployment is 1…

BERKELEY – The dollar has had its ups and downs, but the downs have clearly dominated of late. The greenback has lost more than a quarter of…