The Economic Strategy Group (ESG) is a program for discussing economic policy issues. On November 19, 2020, the ESG released a statement urging Congress to provide additional funding to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Glenn Hubbard joined economists from both political parties in signing the statement. You can read the statement HERE.
The O’Brien family dog takes a bite out of the Dismal Science.
Hmm. Should I keep playing in the leaves or should I do my MyLab assignment on opportunity cost?
Would you please explain the formula for price elasticity one more time?
Why did I sign up for an 8 am Econ class?
No, Mickey, you can’t copy my class notes. You need to start getting up on time!
My TA is always so helpful!
As we discuss in Chapter 17, there are several complications in accurately measuring changes in the distribution of income over time. First, people will not typically remain in the same place in the income distribution their whole lives. Instead, their incomes are likely to fluctuate, moving them up and down the income distribution. So comparing the distribution of income for the whole population at two points in time can give a misleading idea of how the incomes of particular individuals changed. Measuring income mobility can be difficult, however, because it entails tracking the incomes of individuals over time. Doing that requires specialized studies rather than relying on the more readily available government data we can use to track changes in the incomes of the whole population.
Second, we are more interested in the income people have available to spend rather than the income they earn. Because people pay taxes on the incomes they receive and because many people receive transfer payments from the government, including unemployment insurance payments and Social Security payments, the income distribution is more equal if we measure it after taking into account the taxes people pay and the transfer payments they receive.
Finally, people earn income from a variety of sources in addition to wages and salaries, including dividends they receive from owning stock, capital gains they earn from selling a financial or other asset, and income they earn from owning a business such as a restaurant or dry cleaners. The income people at the top of the income distribution earn from owning a business can be particularly hard to measure because it depends on how the income is reported to the Internal Revenue Service, which depends in turn on changes in laws affecting how businesses are organized and how they pay taxes. Dealing with these measurement issues is particular important in determining how much the share of income earned by the top 1% of the income distribution has changed over time—an issue that has been the subject of much political debate.
Wojciech Kopczuk of Columbia University and Eric Zwick of the University of Chicago address these measurement issues in a new article in the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Even skimming the article makes clear just how difficult the measurement issues are. Click HERE to read the article.
Note that the article is part of a symposium on income and wealth inequality that appears in that issue of the journal. The other articles in the symposium are also worth reading. Articles that appear in the Journal of Economic Perspectives are frequently (but not always!) nontechnical summaries of research that can be read without knowledge of economics beyond the principles course.
In an opinion column on bloomberg.com, Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute argues that Congress should pass another stimulus package to supplement the $1.8 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that Congress passed and President Trump signed into law in March. His proposal would involve an additional $1 trillion in spending.
You can read the column HERE. Note that most bloomberg.com articles require a paid subscription, but you can read several articles per month for free.
This post on the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s Page One blog discusses how the belief that automation can lead to permanent job losses is an example of the “lump of labor” fallacy. Click HERE to read the article.
The post refers to the circular-flow diagram, which we discuss in Chapter 2 and in Chapter 18 in the textbook. We discuss the effects of automation and robots on the labor market in Chapter 16.
Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Education (FRE) will welcome students nationwide via webcast to discuss career opportunities and diversity in economics and to learn about career paths within the Federal Reserve System. Opening Remarks by Governor Lael Brainard, administrative governor of the US Federal Reserve.
The event takes place beginning at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday November 17, 2020.
Watch the online webcast of the event at http://www.federalreserve.gov/ and YouTube. Twitter and Facebook users can follow the Federal Reserve Board’s feed, @FederalReserve, and www.facebook.com/federalreserve/ and join the discussion about the event by using the hashtag: #FedEconJobs
Authors Glenn Hubbard and Tony O’Brien catch up with two recent Penn State University Economics graduates – Fernando Zuniga & Gregory Mitchell. They discuss their path through their econ courses – what interested them, what they learned, and what’s been helpful as they begin their careers. They also discuss their careers – how they got there and what econ principles have offered insight in their roles. Students and instructors will gain more insight from this conversation around learning economics and the career paths chosen.
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Authors Glenn Hubbard and Tony O’Brien look at the economic outlook given the current status of the presidential election. Will a divided government lead to economic prosperity or result in more gridlock? They discuss how much the President actually controls economic policy by setting the tone but that other instruments of our government likely have more effect in creating long-term growth in the Economy.
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Authors Glenn Hubbard and Tony O’Brien discuss the economic impacts of what was discussed in the final Presidental debate on 10/22/20. They discuss wide-ranging topics that were raised in the debate from reopening the economy & schools, decreasing participation of women in the workforce due to COVID, healthcare, environment, and general tax policy. Listen to gain economic context on these important items. Click HERE for the New York Times article discussed during the Podcast:
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Advances in technology and expanding international trade have disrupted some key U.S. industries. These developments have made new products available, lowered the prices of existing products, and fostered the creation of new companies and new jobs. Yet, there has also been a downside. Some U.S. manufacturing firms have disappeared and some workers have been left unemployed for long periods. How can economists help frame a discussion about policies that will help everyone participate as the economy continues to evolve? Glenn Hubbard discusses a new approach in his article “The Wall and the Bridge”, published in National Affairs in September 2020.
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