Along with persons far more insightful than me, I offer a few thoughts on the current economic downturn in the new issue of Reason.
The Coming Recession?
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How about taking the carpet from underneath the government? You failed to mention that. How about eleminating the central planning bureau completely?
Very interesting piece.
And as someone who despise mathematical models, the comment on those by Gerald O'Driscoll is also very interesting.
But I don't find the ethanol based arguments to be very convincing, and as much as I like intellectual taking jabs at Green-Warriors I don't think this is a serious explanation. Even though I strongly believe blaming central banks for every single little economic grief is intellectual laziness, I still think it's the only credible explanation to what's happening today.
A while back I attended an economics conference in Mesa, AZ where one of the main speakers was Dr. Dwight Lee. His subject matter of choice was "Milton Friedman- Economist and Freedom Fighter." Of the many things Dr. Lee discussed, one thing that stood out to me the most was something he said about the economy and recession. He compared our economy to everyday people like you and I. He said that just like people, the economy will get a little sick sometimes and requires some bed rest in order to recoup and get back in the game. I believe too many people get too worked up when we start throwing around the dreader "R-word". The economy is much more resilient than many people think which is a comforting thought. Anyway, this is just a humble thought from a young, snot-nosed econ student.
A while back I attended an economics conference in Mesa, AZ where one of the main speakers was Dr. Dwight Lee. His subject matter of choice was "Milton Friedman- Economist and Freedom Fighter." Of the many things Dr. Lee discussed, one thing that stood out to me the most was something he said about the economy and recession. He compared our economy to everyday people like you and I. He said that just like people, the economy will get a little sick sometimes and requires some bed rest in order to recoup and get back in the game. I believe too many people get too worked up when we start throwing around the dreader "R-word". The economy is much more resilient than many people think which is a comforting thought. Anyway, this is just a humble thought from a young, snot-nosed econ student.
As this issue of reason goes to press, the dollar is at a record low against the euro, oil is more than $100 a barrel, consumer prices are up 4 percent from a year ago, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is cutting interest rates so often that the guys at the office have taken to calling him Edward Scissorhands.President George W. Bush, by contrast, is relatively cheery, conceding that we are in “challenging times” but arguing that “our financial institutions are strong” and the capital markets “functioning efficiently and effectively.” “In the long run,” Bush said in a March 17 White House address, “our economy is going to be fine.” And some statistics back up the sunny view: Unemployment is still at a low 5.1 percent, and productivity remains high.