Clayton Christensen’s well-known theory of disruptive innovation has been applied all over the place, from personal computers to cellular telephones to higher education — he seems to have written about 500 books on the topic. From his perch at the Harvard business school, he has established himself as one of the more influential thinkers on the planet. Jill …
As we saw recently, Ken Rogoff is interested in engaging on the “innovation v. stagnation” hypotheses for the continuing global economic malaise. Rogoff comes down on the financial crisis as the root of the issue (see here), but the jury is still out. Here is an Oxford Union Debate where Rogoff discusses these matters with …
Harvard’s Ken Rogoff — of Reinhart and Rogoff fame — has a delicious Project Syndicate piece on the dueling theories of current global economic woes — “Innovation Crisis or Financial Crisis?” As the title implies, once potential cause is that new innovation is simply not bringing the value added to world economic growth — advances …
In a recent article in Forbes, contributor Nick Shulz asks what the “new normal” for economic growth in the U.S. will be. On one side, we find Tyler Cowen (The Great Stagnation) and Robert Gordon (“Is U.S. Economic Growth Over?…”) arguing that the technological low hanging fruit have been picked and that the future will …
If you believe that Tyler Cowen has appropriately declared the end of serious economic growth in the so-called “developed world,” check out the work of Peter Diamandis. If you fervently disagree with Cowen’s view, also check out Diamondis. In Abundance, the Future is Better than You Think, Diamondis (with co-author Steven Kotler) calls upon human …
Paul Krugman rejects the claims that Raghuram Rajan makes about why the US entered the financial crisis. Furthermore he argues that the cause is not particularly important and that more macroeconomic policy stimulus is needed until the US returns to pre-recession levels of employment and GDP. Rajan argues that such stimulus is partly the reason …
Central bankers in all major developed economies have adopted NIRP, ZIRP, or near ZIRP policies. The Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank now “offer” negative interest rates (NIRP) on reserves and project to do so for the foreseeable future. The Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States remain …
One of the reasons, I suppose, that there has never been a more interesting time to be an economist is that we can all see remarkable technological advances unfolding in front of us, but no one quite agrees what to make of them. A few years ago, Tyler Cowen published a little e-book, The Great Stagnation, …
Every January, thousands of economists gather for the American Economic Association meetings, to present papers, discuss ideas, and hire new faculty members (!). Leave it to Nate Silver and his Five Thirty Eight website to send correspondents to cover the proceedings and reports back on what they consider to be the interesting sessions. These reports include …
This view point has been recently propounded by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his protege (puppet?) Haruhiko Kuroda, selected to be in charge of the Bank of Japan. Japan is tired of two decades of stagnation and falling or at least not rising prices. Mr. Abe has pushed for a 2% inflation target and …
Last Friday, Motley Fool’s Morgan Housel highlighted several positive aspects about the American economy. 1. The most beautiful de-leveraging on record. Despite a 6% drop in employment from the beginning of the 2007 – 2009 recession, US employment loss has been less than most other industrialized countries in the last 35 years. 2. America has …
In Monday’s Financial Times, economics editor Martin Wolf explains why the “end” will not be soon. He notes that it has been almost five years since the beginning of our contemporary financial turmoil, if one marks such by the first major sign of sub-prime mortgage problems in the U.S. He characterizes the past five years …
Quotation of the Day… from Cafe Hayek Posted: 29 Apr 2012 05:01 AM PDT … is from page 134 of Deirdre McCloskey’s 2010 Bourgeois Dignity: During the 1930s and early 1940s the prospect of diminishing returns deeply alarmed economists such as the British economist John Maynard Keynes and the American follower of Keynes at Minnesota …
And, so we wind down another term, and I wonder what exactly is on your mind. So, for starters, let’s start with Backhouse & Bateman’s characterization of Keynes. What does Keynes see as capitalism’s defect? What does it “Say” about how his thinking diverges from the status quo at the time? Now, once we have …
This week seems to be innovation week for me, as I am reading two short books on the heels of The Great Stagnation. Reading these pieces, I can’t help but get the feeling that the economics profession is hurtling into a blog-soaked, pamphlet-era frenzy. First up for Econ 100 is Alex Tabarrok’s Launching the Innovation Renaissance (review here), where Tabarrok …
We have found a home for Econ 391, and it is in Steitz 230. We will see you over there at 3:25 on Thursday. We began with Tyler Cowen’s The Great Stagnation, and in our first meeting we took a first cut at these questions: 1. What is the thesis of the book? 2.What does …
The first session rolled along pretty well, I thought, with 14 students and four faculty participating. I was pleased that everyone had something to say, and I hope you will make an effort to talk about this outside of the group. Our next meeting is February 16 at 3:30, and I am still looking for a …
The Economics Department once again proudly announces its community read for the term. The formal title of the course is DS 391 – Keynes, Cowen & Capitalism, and sign up sheets are tacked to my bullitin board. You can get instructor approval from either Professor Galambos or me (or both!). We will …
We have been sponsoring a reading group (DS-391) in the economics department over the past four terms, and we will continue that with two books during the winter term. If you have some spare time in the next five weeks, you might try getting a jump on these. The first is Roger Backhouse and Brad …
Looking to pick up some reading recommendations for the upcoming Reading Period? My pick is Tyler Cowen’s e-book, The Great Stagnation, which has been something of a sensation since its release (if by sensation you mean, which I do, a bunch of economists and policy wonks have been reading and reviewing it). Plenty of buzz …
