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RSS Feed, Season 03: The Use & Abuse of Economic Expertise
Episode #4: The Secret Life of Central Bankers
More...Trump scores big wins by taking cheap shots at experts. Now, some worry he could try to oust Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. The typical centrist position is to defend the supposedly impartial, apolitical expertise of such figures. Yet, we know that is not right. Is there a better way to imagine a better bank?
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RSS Feed, Season 03: The Use & Abuse of Economic Expertise
Episode #3: The Disappearance & Return of Inequality Studies
More...For much of the 20th century, few economists studied inequality. Today, it’s one of the most popular topics there is. Why is inequality back? Just as importantly, how could it have possibly disappeared? We survey the intellectual history of inequality studies in economics.
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RSS Feed, Season 03: The Use & Abuse of Economic Expertise
The WEF is Actually Bad, But Not Like That (Darts Re-Run)
More...We’re on break this week as everyone gears up for, and puzzles through, the results of this week’s US election. However, we have an old Darts & Letters episode that is especially relevant to our ongoing season, the Use & Use of Economic Expertise.
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RSS Feed, Season 03: The Use & Abuse of Economic Expertise
Episode #2: From Rubinomics to Bidenomics
More...Clinton’s Third Way Democrats moved the party away from the unionized industrial labour that typically made up its base. Today, Clintonism is out, and Bidenomics in. Bidenomics was marketed as a political and theoretical break. Yet, beyond November 5th, Bidenomics might too be out. We look at shifting landscape of economic thinking within the Democratic Party.
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RSS Feed, Season 03: The Use & Abuse of Economic Expertise
Episode #1: Simon Kuznets & the Invention of the Economy
More...We tell the story of the invention of the modern economy, or at least the idea of the economy. It starts with one measure: the GDP, or gross domestic product. Today, its a measure that dominates our politics. We have Simon Kuznets to thank for that. Yet, for Kuznets, the GDP was not what he hoped it would be.