http://www.project-syndicate.org/series/anatomy_of_the_global_economy <p><em>Is a new global reserve currency needed? Do central banks need to be reigned in? Will health-care reform help or hinder efforts to control government budgets? Will the stimulus packages implemented to counteract the financial crisis of 2008 consign the world to a future of slow growth?</em></p> en 2012-02-10T05:55:15+01:00 webmaster@project-syndicate.org J. Bradford DeLong 1994-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 4 hourly http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong122/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong122/English>DELONG: Neville Chamberlain was Right</a> Relatively soon after the start of the Great Depression, the British economy was rapidly returning to its previous level of output, thanks to Neville Chamberlain’s reliance on fiscal stimulus to restore the price level to its pre-depression trajectory. Unlike today's British leaders, he did not appease flawed economic theories. J. Bradford DeLong 2012-01-30T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong121/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong121/English>DELONG: America’s Financial Leviathan</a> Today, finance and insurance in the US account for 8.4% of GDP, up from 2.8% in 1950 and 6% in 1990. So why has the devotion of a great deal of skill and enterprise to finance and insurance sector not paid obvious economic dividends? J. Bradford DeLong 2011-12-30T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong120/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong120/English>DELONG: The 70% Solution</a> Today's super rich command and control over resources that they are effectively satiated. So, when we calculate what their tax rate should be, we should not consider the effect on their happiness, but rather on the well-being of everyone else. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-11-30T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong119/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong119/English>DELONG: The ECB’s Battle against Central Banking</a> When the European Central Bank announced its program of government-bond purchases, it let financial markets know that it thoroughly disliked the idea, was not fully committed to it, and would reverse the policy as soon as it could. But the ECB's refusal to accept responsibility for financial stability flies in the face of the history of central banking. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-10-31T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong118/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong118/English>DELONG: A Free Lunch for America</a> The US government can currently borrow for 30 years at a real interest rate of 1% per year. Given this, an additional $500 billion in infrastructure spending would yield enormous benefits – and virtually no costs. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-09-29T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong117/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong117/English>DELONG: Ben Bernanke’s Dream World</a> Ben Bernanke's recent claim that the US economy's “growth fundamentals" apparently have not permanently altered by the shocks of the past four years” is simply not credible. Worse still, it sanctions a hands-off approach to economic depression that threatens to undermine US and global growth for years to come. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-08-30T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong116/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong116/English>DELONG: America’s Locust Years</a> During the run-up to World War II, Winston Churchill, speaking in Parliament, lamented “the years that the locusts hath eaten” – the period during which preparatory action to face the great crisis of his day (the rise of Continental fascism) could have been taken, but was not. America's debt-ceiling debate has put the US in a similar position. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-07-29T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong115/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong115/English>DELONG: Confessions of a Financial Deregulator</a> Back in the late 1990’s, in America at least, support for financial deregulation was widespread, and the entire experiment turned out to be woefully misguided. But if it all looks like such a bad idea now, why didn’t it then? J. Bradford DeLong 2011-06-30T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong114/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong114/English>DELONG: Built to Bust</a> In 2007, it was reasonable to expect that construction spending in the US would be depressed for some time to come. But the extent of the subsequent fall-off in construction spending relative to long-run trends has dwarfed the level of excess spending in 2003-2006. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-05-25T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong113/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong113/English>DELONG: Economics in Crisis</a> Asked recently to name where to turn to understand what was going on in 2008, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers cited three dead men, a book written 33 years ago, and another written the century before last. Economists today, by contrast, have allowed themselves to be continually distracted, confused, and in denial. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-04-29T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong112/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong112/English>DELONG: The Anatomy of Slow Recovery</a> What America needs now is not just a recovery in demand, but also structural adjustment. Unfortunately, the market cannot produce a demand recovery rapidly by itself, and it cannot produce structural adjustment at all until a demand recovery is well under way. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-03-31T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong111/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong111/English>DELONG: Pain without Purpose</a> Today, nominal demand is 8% below the pre-recession trend, inflation is low, and unemployment rates in the North Atlantic region are higher than credible estimates of the sustainable rate. So why are politicians in Europe and the US, who should be worried about their electoral prospects, clamoring to enact policies that would reduce output and employment in the short run. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-02-28T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong110/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong110/English>DELONG: Intelligent Economic Design</a> America is poised for another debate over whether its economy evolves or is designed, with Barack Obama’s opponents claiming that everything good in America’s economy has always evolved with no guidance, and that everything bad has been designed by government. If they win, America – and the world – will lose. J. Bradford DeLong 2011-01-27T00:00:00+01:00