Robert J. Shiller, a 2013 Nobel laureate in economics, is Professor of Economics at Yale University and the co-creator of the Case-Shiller Index of US house prices. He is the author of
Irrational Exuberance, the third edition of which was published in January 2015, and, most recently, Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception, co-authored with George Akerlof.
发自纽黑文——在最近的美国总统大选期间,其民意调查始终显示经济——尤其失业率——是选民们关心的首要问题。来自共和党的挑战者——米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)试图利用这一问题,他宣称:“奥巴马总统的计划并不凑效,他没有一个能推动经济的计划。”
然而巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)依然成功连任了。这个结果也许反映了经济在选举期间的轻微改善,正如1936年大萧条持续期间富兰克林·罗斯福(Franklin Roosevelt)击败来自共和党的阿夫尔·兰登(Alf Landon)时所发生的情况那样。但奥巴马的胜利或许也证实了大部分美国选民对经济现实的基本观感。
经济理论并不能为政策制定者开出一个明确的药方。对宏观经济学的专业判断一如既往地杂乱无章。由于不可能用受控的实验来测试政策,因此我们永远都不可能对宏观经济措施实施明确的检验。
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