Progressives need a fundamentally new approach to politics. They have been losing not just because conservatives have so much more money and power, but also because they have accepted the conservatives’ framing of political debates. They have accepted a framing where conservatives want market...

The economic crisis of 2001-2002 in Argentina caused a large increase in unemployment. Policy responses have been imperfect. This paper discusses the roots and character of the crisis, the policies implemented to address the resulting social situation, and the quality of early warning indicators...

Two centuries of Greek debt crises highlight the pitfalls of relying on external financing. Since its independence in 1829, the Greek government has defaulted four times on its external creditors - with striking historical parallels. Each crisis is preceded by a period of heavy borrowing from...

Two centuries of Greek debt crises highlight the pitfalls of relying on external financing. Since its independence in 1829, the Greek government has defaulted four times on its external creditors - with striking historical parallels. Each crisis is preceded by a period of heavy borrowing from...

This paper examines the time period of the early Roman Empire, the crisis of the third century, and the collapse of Rome. I look to economics to explain Rome’s collapse and examine monetary decisions and policies. My main goal, however, is to research ancient history from a modern perspective,...

A recurrent and indeed persistent problem in European economic history – a veritable deus ex machina -- from medieval to modern times, is Europe’s supposed ‘balance of payments’ problem in trade with the ‘East’. This supposed problem has often been couched in Mercantilist overtones:...

We compute average mark-ups as a measure of market power throughout time and study their interaction with fiscal policy and macroeconomic variables in a VAR framework. From impulse-response functions the results, with annual data for a set of 14 OECD countries covering the period 1970-2007, show...

Does the economic analysis associated with the modern Austrian school favor a policy of restraining the government’s fiscal deficit even in a subpar economy, as suggested by those who (pejoratively) label such a policy “austerian”? Because resources are not superabundant even in a subpar...

This paper analyzes the causes and implications of recent financial crises. Financial crises in general lead to changes in both theory and practice of economics. The paper takes an historical overview. The global consensus of economic theory during the 20th century is discussed. The paper...

The macromodel estimates the short and medium-term economic implications of the internal policies and the international environment. This version of the Romanian macromodel incorporates the experience accumulated through the utilisation of its previous forms - either experimental (tested during...