Ben Bernanke spent his entire Fed career wittering about deflation, from his initial “helicopters” speech of 2002 on. Yet we never got it, or even close to it. Ironically, a year after Bernanke’s replacement by a like-minded successor, we finally appear close to genuine deflation. The balance of probabilities must still be against it, but […]

In an inevitable development, the proponents of greater government spending have developed a new theory to encourage it. With Senator Bernie Sanders (I.-VT)’s appointment of its proponent University of Missouri-Kansas City professor Stephanie Kelton as minority chief economist to the Senate Budget Committee, the new Modern Monetary Theory is about to get a serious airing. […]

Last week’s Economist magazine had a leading article and lengthy feature “The future of work” looking at the Silicon Valley companies such as Uber and Airbnb that, by creating the “on-demand economy,” have turned employees into freelancers. Their emergence has like most innovations been opposed by entrenched interests, with both Uber and Airbnb facing legal […]

The Greek government’s failure to elect a President has caused a snap election on January 25, at which the left-populist party Syriza seems likely to win a majority. Similar parties in Spain (Podemos) and to an extent Italy (the Five Star movement) are also a threat to established political norms. On the other political side, […]