Comments for Des Moines Register Endorsement of Romney Flunks the Which Way is Up Test on Economics at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 10 out of 10 comments http://www.cepr.net Thu, 23 May 2013 03:13:37 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19938 Confidence has to be the issue, because Romney said that if he were elected, the economy would grow faster just because of the awe he would inspire. Now, that's where the Des Moines Register realizes that economics is not just magic, so there have to be mechanisms by which the awe Romney inspires would spur growth. What could those mechanisms be? Well, investment and spending are really good candidates, unless Romney (or the editorial board) wants to argue that a higher savings rate would boost growth. So you see, the editorial board does understand economics, just not in the way that works outside the bubble. Once you accept Romney's own view of his awe-inspiringness (or in an earlier version of the language his "awfulness"), economics requires that you identify a mechansim. - kharris Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:29:09 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19936 Wonderful post, thanks Dean. It shows that Romney is not the 'confidence fairy', as Krugman calls it, but a confidence man. I've linked your post in my blog: http://therepublicon.blogspot.com/2012/11/confidence-is-confidence-game.html - William Berkson Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:34:20 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19928 The Des Moines Register editorial represents the end of an era. Under editor Michael Gardner, the Des Moines Register and Tribune reached quality and influence heights that far transcended its size. That excellence lasted a full generation; but now, it is just another farm belt rag. - bmz Thu, 01 Nov 2012 02:36:13 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19926 "Abandon fatalism, all ye who enter." C'mon Mel don't buy their message of inevitability. Write letters like mad. Speak out loud. - David Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:50:31 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19925 I do not understand why confidence is the purported problem with the economy. The newspaper makes it sound like we're taking about asking someone out on a date. But for the sake of argument, why should people have more confidence to spend at high levels when salaries have been flat for at least 10 years, job security is limited with at will employment or reductions in force due to budget cuts, health care costs increased, retirement contributions nixed, increased student debt when retraining is pursued, expectations have readjusted after inflated housing values, a significant number of people are underemployed or unemployed that could be providing more demand, and at record low interest rates the government has no confidence that it can spend to increase demand because things will inevitably improve. If there is any lack of confidence, it's in Washington. They don't have to resuscitate the economy forever. They just need to get the wind back in the sails. - Jay Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:21:29 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19924 the economy will not recover under a taxcut program & entitlement cuts. that won't cause employers to bring in new employees. the only possible recovery would be a tremendous increase in government stimulus which is impossible given the obama/romney policies & the total control of the economy by wallstreet. most people don't understand anything at all about finance or economics, & as dean has pointed out many times, neither do 90% of economists. it's a real shame as this depression could have easily been prevented, & could be solved were it not for the tremendous power in ny city, wash dc- heck all the power centers across the country who are making out like bandits & have no desire to help those that need it most. this recession, depression, whatever you want to call it, will go on for decades, watch & see. - mel in oregon Wed, 31 Oct 2012 11:52:55 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19922 One of the factors in the declining savings rate is the increasing rents in many parts of the country. In many states the percentage of the population paying more than half their gross income for rent has risen substantially. See http://www.nhc.org/media/files/Landscape2012.pdf - PeonInChief Wed, 31 Oct 2012 05:23:31 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19919 Total private investment is still far below the long-term trend: http://www.skeptometrics.org/PrivateInvestment/ although it is actually recovering at a good rate; it is unrealistic to expect it to recover instantly from a deep hole to normal level. As Dean says, demand is still low and businessmen are just not going to unilaterally expand on the assumption that demand will follow; conservatives' belief in Say's law is a lot less in reality than in theory. Under conditions like the present, only government can make the decision to expand ahead of demand. The fact that demand is low despite historically low levels of saving is actually discouraging. This is probably a manifestation of much higher inequality than before. - skeptonomist Wed, 31 Oct 2012 03:42:43 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19918 DMR: "That stimulus was necessary to bridge the nation from recession to recovery, but the time is past for more government stimulus." If the DMR understood that lack of demand not lack of 'confidence' is holding back the economy, then they would know that additional stimulus is still very much needed. - Robert Salzberg Wed, 31 Oct 2012 02:46:08 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/des-moines-register-endorsement-of-romney-flunks-the-which-way-is-up-test-on-economics#comment-19917 Dean, Your point about the housing bubble is well received. However, there is more than a housing bubble affecting consumers just as the housing bubble was only one aspect of the financial bubble that collapsed. There is a tremendous debt overload that both businesses and consumers are struggling to work off and I don't believe the employment will return to "normal" until that debt overhang is resolved. What we are now seeing is that wages are stagnant while prices are increasing. I think that wages, if looked at on a per capita basis (i.e. total wages divided by the working-age population), would actually be in decline. While that may sound like a proxy for the unemployment number, it is actually more meaningful in that many of the employed share their income with unemployed family members and changes in per capita wages more accurately reflect disposable income. - Ron Alley Wed, 31 Oct 2012 02:38:23 +0100