Ben Bernanke was Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2009. A decade earlier, the magazine proclaimed Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers ‘The Committee to Save the World,’ when they were, respectively, Federal Reserve board chair, treasury secretary…
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China will face some bumps on road to economic dominance
Some time in the future, the economy of China will surpass that of the United States. No one knows exactly when, since projecting growth rates decades into the future is risky. But it may not happen as soon as some…
2010 bound to be significant to economy
This year will be important in U.S. economic history even though we don’t yet know why. It will be so simply because the events that occurred between June 2007 and the present were momentous ones stemming from fundamental forces that…
It’s the GOP’s turn to flip-flop on health care
Flip-flopping is an equal-opportunity sport in American politics. This time, it seems to be the Republicans’ turn. Congressional Republicans have opposed the Obama administration’s health care bill because it will increase the federal government’s role in U.S. health care and…
Past decade could belong to old era or new
The past 10 years have been eventful, both in terms of political events and economic ones, but it is not yet clear how historians will classify this decade. Will it be deemed the first decade of the 21st century in…
Cost-benefit analysis can apply to justice, too
The Supreme Court unleashed a controversy earlier this year when it ruled that prosecutors couldn’t introduce results from blood-alcohol and other needed lab tests in court without testimony from the technicians who prepared them. But how that decision should be…
Economists can nudge the ship of history
Do economists in dusty academic offices ever really change the course of history? British economist John Maynard Keynes argued they do: ‘The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more…
Bankers’ reluctance to make loans is understandable: Defaults
President Barack Obama called in leading bankers to the White House on Monday to lecture them on their responsibility to lend. The bankers say they are doing all they can. Who is right? In the president’s view, U.S. taxpayers saved…
Don’t expect too much from climate talks
Countries’ willingness to read international agreements and, more importantly, to comply with commitments they make, depends almost entirely on domestic political considerations. That is why you should not expect too much from the Copenhagen climate summit, despite whatever triumphal communiqués…
State revenue crunch makes Vikings stadium subsidy seem less of a priority
It’s time for a national re-examination of government funding of sports arenas. Minnesota has deep budget problems. On a per-capita basis, the coming shortfalls may be as bad as California’s, even though the total sum in that state is much…