Economics
When Japan’s new prime minister Shinzo Abe unveiled his economic program last December, it was greeted with skepticism. How could Japan, which had record levels of government debt, hope to improve its economic performance by incurring still higher levels of debt through an ambitious spending program? But so far, Abe’s “three arrows” of fiscal stimulus, monetary easing, and structural reform seems to be hitting their target. In the first quarter of this year, Japan’s economy grew at an annual rate of 4.1 percent. That’s compared to 1.8 percent in the United States.
Immigration Reform's Unwanted Foreigners
How the bill before Congress could ignite a trade war with India
Could the bill before Congress ignite a trade war with India?
Guerrillas in the Boardroom
Shareholder activists are getting smarter—and could soon claim their biggest scalp
Shareholder activists are getting smarter—and could soon claim their biggest scalp.
Newark's Terrible New Foreclosure Fix Idea
Activists in the city think eminent domain can save their neighborhoods
Activists in the city think eminent domain can save their neighborhoods—but the plan would never work.
Political Paralysis Makes Us Poorer
Calculating the dollars-and-cents costs of policy uncertainty
Calculating the dollars-and-cents costs of policy uncertainty
The New Study that Republicans Who Reject Medicaid Must Read
A report indicates just how important it can be in improving poor people's lives
A major new study on Medicaid just became public. I know—nothing excites readers more than the phrase “major new study on Medicaid.” Bear with me. This study is already getting a lot of attention: Conservatives and libertarians are citing it as evidence that expanding Medicaid is wrong. That has me wondering: Did they read read the same study that I did?
Does the current mania for austerity make any sense?
The Weird and Very Real World of Excel-Error Research
The Rogoff-Reinhart blunder is a prominent example of a very common problem
The Rogoff-Reinhart blunder is a prominent example of a very common problem.
As chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke can explain a lot about its response to the housing bubble. What he can't explain is whether much of our finance industry is more trouble than it's worth.
Fannie and Freddie Are Stronger Than Ever
The reviled companies are the only players in the secondary mortgage market
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed guarantors of residential mortgages, hold a particularly reviled place in our political culture. They stand accused of taking a $187.5 billion government bailout (correct) and inciting the housing bubble and financial crisis (largely incorrect).
