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We economists have a reputation for being dry and boring. That’s why Ben Stein’s scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off works so well — and why this guy is such a novelty. Given our dismal reputation, I am happy to report that some economists’ recent defenses of the efficient-markets hypothesis are laugh-out-loud funny. Outside Cirque du Soleil, you

Ever since the Obama administration released its report detailing the number of jobs “saved or created” from the $787 billion stimulus package, cynics have been having a field day playing with the numbers. Investigations have revealed that many of the respondents’ claims of job creation are bogus , and simple division shows that some states

One of the more awkward situations facing Austrian economists today is that we are divided on whether to expect price deflation or inflation. Although it’s good that we publicly disagree with each other — rather than bury our disagreements to reassure the lay public that we know what we’re talking about — it’s nonetheless unsettling that our

It’s one thing to criticize Paul Krugman for his views on Austrian economics , but only a brave soul would have the temerity to question Krugman’s discussion of the Keynesian approach to international trade, right? Since Krugman is the world’s most famous living Keynesian, and he won the Nobel (Memorial) Prize for his work on trade theory ,

While driving my son to school one morning, I heard a National Public Radio interview with John Cassidy, author of the new book How Markets Fail . Fortunately, we got to the front of the line before Cassidy let out the zingers. A few minutes earlier, and my son would have seen Daddy lose his temper. Cassidy first caricatures the case for free

Greg Mankiw’s recent blog post carries a rather risky title: “The Monetary Base Is Exploding. So What?” I really am trying to understand the viewpoint of the wide range of economists (including Mankiw, Paul Krugman , Scott Sumner, Mike “Mish” Shedlock , Bryan Caplan , and David R. Henderson ) who think the dollar is not going to fall sharply in

Robert Shiller In a recent New York Times op-ed , economist Robert Shiller (coproducer of the famous housing-price index) recommended that the US government begin to sell claims on fractions of Gross Domestic Product. Besides the practical problems with his proposal, it rests on the premise that the US government owns the entire economy. It will

San Jose State economics professor Jeffrey Rogers Hummel tells all his students that the easiest way to understand the Federal Reserve is to think of it as a giant, legalized counterfeiter. I had always known that the Fed and other central banks were like counterfeiters, but I still thought that the actual mechanics of open-market operations and

I’m a professional economist, which means I can’t just be happy when people try to help others. Instead, I feel compelled to analyze whether their altruistic actions are efficient or if they seem to be a waste of resources. In a recent flash of insight, I came up with a way to make charitable impulses more productive, but I had to abandon the idea

In a recent interview in the New Yorker , Eugene Fama, Chicago School economist and father of the efficient-markets hypothesis (EMH), defended his theory in light of the housing boom and crash. Fama’s views on asset bubbles and business cycles stand in sharp contrast to the standard Austrian position. Although Chicago and Austrian economists are