About the blog
I intend to cover some of the same topics as my previous blog, which was entitled The Money Illusion. These include monetary economics (my area of expertise), other economic policy issues, and a whole bunch of general topics that I find of interest, including the arts, science, public policy, history, philosophy and pop culture.
There will also be differences. I aim to improve the quality by focusing on less polarizing issues and using a more positive approach. I also plan to make the comment section more thoughtful and less trollish.
About me
I was born in 1955, grew up in Madison, and then attended the university there in the mid-1970s. In the late 1970s, I was a grad student in economics at Chicago. After drifting for a few years I settled down and taught for 33 years at Bentley College (now Bentley University). My wife and I now live in Orange County.
From an academic perspective, the book that I’m most proud of is The Midas Paradox, which focuses on the role of the gold standard and labor market regulation in the Great Depression. My second book was entitled The Money Illusion, and discusses my general views on monetary economics, and my specific views on the causes of the Great Recession of 2008. It is aimed at a more popular audience. More recently, I wrote a book that examines a deceptively tricky question—-what exactly is monetary policy? The book is entitled Alternative Approaches to Monetary Policy, and is freely available online.
My general views are utilitarian, pro-democracy and pro-free market. I am strongly opposed to nationalism, socialism, and authoritarianism. For economic policy, I favor targeting the market forecast of nominal GDP growth along a 4% growth trend line, with level targeting. I am also a fan of consumption taxes, carbon taxes, ending victimless crime laws, ending residential zoning, ending occupational licensing laws, and ending a whole host of other regulations. I’m comfortable with people calling me a neoliberal, a classical liberal, or a pragmatic libertarian.
The picture below is from 2016. It’s kind of dark, but it’s almost impossible to find a picture of me that I don’t hate.
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