The Lender of Last Resort

Mariano Torras Economic Theory, Finance, General, Macroeconomics, Politics, Public policy/Wellbeing 3 Comments

November 11, 2020

There is a high stakes political fight looming over whether to extend the emergency loan programs put in place this past Spring by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, in response to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. While it appears that the Fed might be amenable to continuing the lending programs beyond their December 31st deadline, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is feeling pressure from Republicans to allow the programs to expire. The interesting twist here is that …

David Graeber: A True Public Intellectual

Mariano Torras Economic Theory, Finance, General, History, Macroeconomics, Public policy/Wellbeing, Reflections Leave a Comment

September 25, 2020

Progressives the world over are mourning the tragic and untimely death of anthropologist David Graeber. He was one of the few academics who truly “walked the talk,” blending his activism and anarchism with original and pathbreaking research. Graeber is possibly best known for his involvement with Occupy Wall Street (he is frequently credited with coining the term “the 99%”) and his controversial dismissal from Yale University. I did not know him personally but am familiar with some of his professional work, …

In Defense of Idleness

Mariano Torras Economic Theory, Future, General, Health/Disease, History, Macroeconomics, Public policy/Wellbeing, Reflections 1 Comment

September 11, 2020

Modern society’s belief in the virtue of industry, productivity, or plain hard work is well ingrained in our psyche, and far predates capitalism. According to an old Arabian proverb, “the devil tempts all men, but idle men tempt the devil.” Ouch! If in any way representative of our opinion of human inactivity, it should hardly surprise that no sooner than Covid-19 forced idleness upon us all, we heard a chorus of voices keen to return to the status quo. But from …

The Free Competitive Market as Red Herring

Mariano Torras Economic Theory, General, History, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Politics, Public policy/Wellbeing, Reflections Leave a Comment

August 28, 2020

I like to ask my economics students whether competitive free markets are a good thing. Despite the fact that many of them want to go into business as a career, they mostly agree that competition and free markets are universally desirable. I try to remind them that absence of competition is what most helps businesses stay alive – never mind rake in abnormal profits – but they are not easily persuaded. Further discussion with them reveals a widespread and ingrained …

Economic Depression and the Liquidity Trap

Mariano Torras Economic Theory, Future, General, Macroeconomics, Public policy/Wellbeing Leave a Comment

July 3, 2020

I never quite got the liquidity trap when I was in college. Not having grown up during a major war or an economic depression, the concept always seemed kind of abstract. I understood it a bit better when I was in graduate school, probably because by then I had greater general curiosity about economics. But even then, it was not easy to fathom without direct observation or experience. Things change. The past 10-12 years are, arguably, Exhibit A. According to …

Why Economic Generalist?

Mariano Torras Complexity, Economic Theory, Future, General, Methodology/Statistics Leave a Comment

June 12, 2020

Welcome to my blog! I am an academic economist, but professional writing for a specialized audience gets old given enough years. Academic writing has always run against my generalist tendencies because I am interested in too many different subjects. I have recently grown interested in writing about economics for a broad audience, instead of trying to communicate exclusively with economists. I disagree with many of them on most things anyway. A “generalist” approach to economics will, I hope, help me …