The changing dynamics of short-run output adjustment

Much of macroeconomic theorizing rests on assumptions that define the short-run output adjustment of a mass-production economy. The demand effect of investment on output, assumed much faster than its supply effect, works through employment expanding pari passu with changes in capacity utilization while productivity remains constant. Using linear Structural VAR and Time-Varying Parameter Structural VAR models, we document important changes in the short-run output adjustment in the USA. The link between changes in employment, capacity utilization and investment has weakened, while productivity became more responsive following demand shifts caused by investment since the early 1990s

The changing dynamics of short-run output adjustment

Much of macroeconomic theorizing rests on assumptions that define the short-run output adjustment of a mass-production economy. The demand effect of investment on output, assumed much faster than its supply effect, works through employment expanding pari passu with changes in capacity utilization while productivity remains constant. Using linear Structural VAR and Time-Varying Parameter Structural VAR models, we document important changes in the short-run output adjustment in the USA. The link between changes in employment, capacity utilization and investment has weakened, while productivity became more responsive following demand shifts caused by investment since the early 1990s

Feminist Economics, Setting out the Parameters

___Introduction___ Feminist economics has developed its position over the past decade, towards a firmer embeddedness in economic science and a source of inspiration for activists, policy makers, and social science researchers in a wide variety of fields of research. This development has come about in a relatively short period of time, as is reflected, for example, in the follow-up book of the feminist economic primer Beyond Economic Man (Ferber/Nelson 1993), published ten years later: Feminist Economics Today (Ferber/Nelson, 2003) The strengthened position of feminist economics also shows in the 10-year anniversary of the prize-winning journal Feminist Economics, the flourishing of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE), as well as the more regular demand for feminist economic policy advise by institutions like the UN, OECD and governments in developed and developing countries, and in well-established training courses in feminist economics, such as at the Institute of Social Studies and University of Utah . It is impossible to give a fair overview of the state of the art of feminist economics in the number of pages available, even when limited to issues pertaining to development and macroeconomics . As a consequence, this is a very sketchy and subjective overview of what I perceive to be recent developments in feminist economics that have relevance for feminist development analysis and policy. The next section recognizes three trends in feminist economics, in particular the engagement of feminist economists with heterodox schools of economics. The following sections will briefly review developments in methodology and methods in feminist economics. These will be followed by three sections on topics that have recently become key themes or areas of research in feminist economics, in particular in the area of development economics: unpaid labour and the care economy; the two-way relationship between gender and trade; and gender, efficiency and growth. Each of these topics will be introduced, with references to the main literature, and some links to policy recommendations. The paper will end with a conclusion

Neden Keynes’in Para Üzerine Bir Deneme’si Bugün Genel Teori’den Daha İlginç Olabilir??

Asset price speculation has come to play a central role in economic life in the age financial liberalization in a way that is reminiscent of the era right before the Great Depression. In his A Treatise on Money, financial variables and asset price speculation was an integral part of Keynes’ account of the business cycle dynamics. In his General Theory, Keynes commented on financial markets extensively, but did not use his insights on asset price speculation explicitly in his theory of output determination. In later years, Minsky’s interpretation of the General Theory bridged this gap in Keynes’ two works, by reviving his earlier emphasis on financial variables and speculation. But the paper argues that Minsky might not have gone far enough, on account of having overlooked that part of Keynes’ argument in the Treatise on asset price speculation which is of relevance in understanding business cycle dynamics today.Mali serbestlesmeyle birlikte, 1930’lar mali buhranından önceki dönemi hatırlatır bir sekilde, piyasalarda varlık fiyat spekülasyonu ekonomik hayat açısından merkezi bir önem tasır hale geldi. Keynes’in Para Üzerine Bir Deneme eserinde, is çevrimlerini açıklarken yaptığı analizlerde spekülasyon ve mali değiskenlerin önemli bir rol oynadığını görürüz. Oysa, daha iyi tanınan eseri, Đstihdam, Faiz ve Paranın Genel Teorisi’nde Keynes’in spekülasyona iliskin görüslerine etraflıca yer verilmisse de, bu tür saptamalar bu eserde gelistirilen çıktı teorisinde kullanılmamıstır. Daha sonra, Genel Teori’yi, Keynes’in mali piyasalara iliskin görüslerini ön plana çıkaracak sekilde yorumlayan Minsky’nin, Keynes’in bu sözü edilen iki eseri arasındaki düsünsel iliskiyi güçlendirdiği söylenebilir. Ancak, bu makalede, Minsky’nin bunu yaparken Keynes’in önceki eserinde varlık fiyat spekülasyonuna iliskin gelistirdiği analizlerinden yeterince yararlanmadığı ve bunların günümüz piyasalarında yasanan ekonomik sorunları anlamada özellikle önem tasıdığı savunulmaktadır.Publisher's Versio

WP 2009-8 What is Driving Global Deflation and How Best to Fight It?

The massive US stimulus that has just been enacted is liable to raise questions sooner or later about the viability of the dollar in financial markets. It is true that no currency today – or, in the foreseeable future - seems capable of providing a safer alternative to the dollar, but that should not be a cause for complacency. A panicky rush into gold out of the dollar is always possible, and that can turn the current slump into a great depression worse than the last.financial markets; economic crisis; stimulus