Monthly Archives: January 2015

Je Suis Oncle Bernard

Posted on January 8, 2015 by William Black | 3 comments

By William K. Black
Bloomington, MN: January 8, 2015

As the new editor-in-chief of New Economic Perspectives (given the fantastic news, except for UMKC, that Stephanie Kelton has been named Chief Economist for the Senate Budget Committee) it is my sad responsibility to note the murder of Bernard Maris, a prominent French economist and opponent of financial terrorism via austerity, in the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo. Bernard was known in France as Oncle Bernard. This excerpt provides a brief description of the man we have all lost. We offer our condolences to all who knew him.

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EU Deflation Arrives and the Troika Continues to Fiddle While the EU Burns

Posted on January 8, 2015 by William Black | 1 comment

By William K. Black
Bloomington, MN: January 7, 2015

The troika (the EU Commission, the ECB, and the IMF) are flirting with throwing the entire eurozone back into a third Great Recession and much of the periphery into the continuation of the Troika Depression. For nations like Greece, the current Great Depression is now more severe and longer lasting than the Great Depression of the 1930s. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal’s journalistic malpractice in covering the troika’s gratuitous infliction of misery upon the people of Europe has been the perfect side dish to complement the troika’s toxic economic malpractice.

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Posted in William K. Black

Tagged ECB, Eurozone, nyt, troika, WSJ

Herr Henkel is Shocked that His Party Embraces Bigots

Posted on January 7, 2015 by William Black | Comments Off

By William K. Black
Bloomington, MN: January 6, 2015

If one wishes to know why Germany’s financial elite embraces vicious economic assaults on their fellow Europeans of the periphery via the economic malpractice of austerity it is essential to consider not only that malpractice, but also the moral rot at the core of the German financial elite. This column updates my earlier discussion of Germany’s internal financial troika, which makes Prime Minister Angela Merkel appear almost rational. My prior column skewered the New York Times’ coverage of that troika. This update addresses the Wall Street Journal’s woeful coverage of two members of the German troika.

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Posted in William K. Black

Tagged henkel, nyt, WSJ

The Wall Street Journal and the Troika Fear they Have Not Adequately Terrorized Greece

Posted on January 6, 2015 by William Black | 4 comments

By William K. Black
Washington DC: January 6, 2015

I’ve written recently about the embarrassing nature of the New York Times’ coverage of Greece (and the eurozone more generally), so it is time to describe the even more appalling coverage by the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ has published a series of articles that contain facts that demonstrate how self-destructive the troika’s infliction of austerity has been to the eurozone, but those articles do not express that conclusion.

Worse, the WSJ publishes a steady dose of articles by Simon Nixon that are presented (at least on the web where I read them) as if they were news articles. Nixon’s job title with the paper is “Chief European Commentator,” but that title is not stated in the series of recent articles about Greece and the eurozone. He appears to have a B.A. in History and once worked as an investment banker. I assume that the WSJ’s defense of his columns is that he is a “commentator” rather than a reporter of the news though on the web I see no indication that readers are warned that they are not reading a news article.

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Posted in William K. Black

Tagged greece, NYTimes, troika, WSJ

In Appreciation of Lord Robert Skidelsky–Presentation for Economists for Peace and Security

Posted on January 6, 2015 by L. Randall Wray | 4 comments

By L. Randall Wray
Cross posted from Economonitor
Updated 01-10-2015: Added video links

I just returned from the annual ASSA meetings in Boston. This is largely a front for the American Economics Association to produce an appearance of pluralism. The ASSA is actually run by the AEA, which allocates to itself the prime locations and biggest conference rooms—and then offers a few slots and tiny rooms for most of the heterodox groups that also hold their annual meetings with the ASSA.

This is the closest economists come to a pornfest. As you walk by the typical AEA panel presentation, you’ll see a tiny audience in a darkened room, titillated by a powerpoint slide filled with obscene mathematics.

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Posted in L. Randall Wray

Tagged AEA, ASSA, Robert Skildelsky

Hiatus (personal)

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Stephanie Kelton | 24 comments

By Stephanie Kelton

I’m in Washington, D.C. this morning, kicking off the new year in a new job. There are some rules about blogging (and so forth) and, while it is permitted, I think it’s best for me to hand over the reins to my friend and colleague, William K. Black so that I can give my full attention to the tasks ahead. I appreciate Bill’s willingness to take over as Editor-in-Chief of NEP.

Some of you have wondered whether I’ve left UMKC. I haven’t. I’ve simply taken a leave of absence in order to accept a position as Chief Economist on the Senate Budget Committee (minority side). I’ll be working closely with Senate budget staff, under the direction of ranking member Sen. Sanders (I-VT). And, of course, I’ll be reading NEP.

Onward!

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The WSJ Is Outraged That Someone Would “Loot a Company”

Posted on January 4, 2015 by William Black | 6 comments

By William K. Black
Washington, DC: January 4, 2015

George Akerlof and Paul Romer’s famous 1993 article “Looting: The Economic Underworld of Bankruptcy for Profit” introduced what criminologists call “accounting control fraud” to the economics literature. The people who control the firm (typically the CEOs) use its seeming legitimacy as a “weapon” to loot shareholders, creditors, and, if the resultant losses are large enough, the U.S. Treasury. Their article discussed several examples of such fraud epidemics, including the savings and loan debacle. Criminologists, the S&L regulators, and over 1,000 successful felony prosecutions of the S&L looters confirmed Akerlof & Romer’s insights.

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