Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: economics

economics stories: 57 news summaries

1 - 20 of 57 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

 Soros to Spend 
 $50M to Reinvent 
 Economics 


Fund manager's think tank charged with reinventing the field

Oct 28, 09 9:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - George Soros has decided to spend $50 million to launch a new think tank charged with reinventing the field of economics, which the Hungarian-American billionaire calls "a dogma whose time has passed." The Institute of New Economic Thinking, whose board members include luminaries such as Joseph Stiglitz and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • Alan Greenspan • George Soros • laissez faire economics • Joseph Stiglitz • financial crisis • Jeffrey Sachs

Winter Babies' Real Problem? Less-Educated Mothers

Accidental find shines light on old conundrum

Sep 22, 09 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - For years, economists have been trying to explain why winter babies have it so tough. In study after study, those born in winter consistently perform worse in school, earn less, and are less healthy than peers born at other times of year. Now Notre Dame economists Kasey Buckles and Daniel... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • economics • statistics • Freakonomics • babies

Utilities Turn to Peer Pressure
to Nudge Customers

Cut your energy use to keep up with Joneses

Sep 14, 09 8:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Would you be more likely to rein in your energy use if you knew it would save money, or if you knew your neighbors used less? Traditional economists assume the former—that consumers do what is in their best interest—but companies are ditching that notion in favor of behavioral... More »

MORE ABOUT:
marketing • economics • behavioral ecnonomics • energy conservation

OPINION

Fed Has Field of Economics in Its Pocket

Central bank keeps vast number of thinkers on the payroll

Sep 9, 09 3:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Federal Reserve has essentially bought out the economics profession, writes Ryan Grim in a Huffington Post investigation. The Fed employs or contracts with so many economists that it's a "career liability" for any independent-minded one to criticize policy, writes Grim. This might explain why the Fed has largely... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Ben Bernanke • Federal Reserve • economics • economist • economists

OPINION

Krugman: How Economists Blew It

Downturn blindsided big brains who thought markets were perfect

Sep 4, 09 11:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Believe it or not, economists were, until about a year ago, congratulating themselves on a job well done. Now the dismal science is in shock, and Paul Krugman thinks he knows why. Economists, he writes in the New York Times Magazine, “mistook beauty, clad in impressive-looking mathematics, for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • recession • Paul Krugman • financial crisis • John Maynard Keynes • economists

OBITUARY

Economist
Rose Friedman Dead at 98

Collaborated with husband Milton on foundational texts

Aug 19, 09 2:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Rose Friedman, economist and collaborator with husband and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, died yesterday of heart failure, the Chicago Tribune reports. Rose was the co-author of Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose, two foundational texts of the Chicago School of economics. Though birth records from her birthplace in modern-day... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • University of Chicago • obituary • Chicago School • Ukraine • Milton Friedman • Rose Friedman

OPINION

Only 2nd Stimulus Can Save US: Stiglitz

But Wall Street bailout has made it a dirty word, writes economist

Aug 10, 09 7:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pundits can't help but ask whether the winter's fiscal stimulus has failed, and for Joseph Stiglitz it has—because the Obama administration made "political compromises that caused it to be less effective than it could have been." For the Nobel Prize-winning economist, there is no option but a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • recession • economic stimulus package • bailout • Joseph Stiglitz • Obama administration • financial crisis • Wall Street bailout

(Newser) - President Obama has big plans for the economy, and that’s too bad because he knows nothing about it, Fred Barnes writes in the Weekly Standard. All of his proposals and angry jabs at Wall Street are counter to his professed interest in growth and job creation. “Obamanomics... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • recession • Federal government • economy • Obama administration • financial crisis • President Obama • economic downturn • Fred Barnes

OPINION

 If Economists Fail, 
 Don't Blame Economics 

...don't give up on economics

Jul 17, 09 2:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Economists have made some disastrous calls recently, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on economics, opines an editorial in the Economist. True, too few economists predicted the financial crisis, but the current backlash, which assumes that the dismal science is basically useless, has gone too far.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • academics • monetary policy • financial crisis • economists

(Newser) - Pope Benedict delivers a broad criticism of contemporary capitalism in his latest encyclical, the Washington Post reports. The biggest problem with businesses today is that “they are almost exclusively answerable to their investors,” Benedict writes in the 144-page document. He proposes a radically different economic model in which... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Pope Benedict XVI • economics • G8 summit • Vatican • socialism • capitalism • economic crisis

OPINION

Cap-and-Trade Could Help —Not Hurt—the Economy

Fighting climate change can be profitable: Krugman

May 1, 09 8:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - Now that Washington finally has the political will to combat climate change, opponents of environmentalism are pushing a new line: limiting emissions would do further damage to a battered economy. For Paul Krugman, those claims are "junk economics" to go with climate change deniers' "junk science." A... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • environment • cap and trade • economics • investment • green business • carbon emissions

 Zimbabwe Central Bank 
 Stole Cash to Stay Solvent 

Governor admits pilfering private accounts to keep ministries running

Apr 20, 09 11:26 AM CDT
(AP) - Zimbabwe's central bank governor admits he took money from bank accounts of private businesses and foreign aid groups without permission to keep the country's cash-strapped ministries running. Gideon Gono said today he loaned money from the private hard-currency accounts to the government. He says the accounts will be reimbursed when... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Africa • inflation • Zimbabwe • economics • economic reform • incompetence • central bank • economy • hyper-inflation • economic crisis • Gideon Gono

(Newser) - A Chicago family is trying to use its household spending to invest in the black community by buying exclusively from black-owned businesses for 1 year, the Tribune reports. The Andersons’ ambitious “Ebony Experiment” has them driving 14 miles for groceries (and farther for other stuff) and has earned hate... More »

MORE ABOUT:
race • Chicago • African Americans • economics • business • black • experiments • African-Americans • Northwestern University

 Bernanke Backs Stimulus Bill 

Bigger deficits are worth the benefits, Fed chair tells Congress

Mar 3, 09 12:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Ben Bernanke supported the Obama administration’s economic policy before Congress today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The $787 billion stimulus bill should boost “demand and production” and soften job losses over the next 2 years, the Federal Reserve chief told the Senate Budget Committee. The expansion of government... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Ben Bernanke • Federal Reserve • economics • budget • economic stimulus package • Obama administration • financial crisis • President Obama

OPINION

Pols Get Failing Grades
on Economic Literacy

Critics of stimulus spending reveal lack of economic literacy

Feb 6, 09 10:05 AM CST
(Newser) - Given all the "silly" arguments coming out of Washington these days, maybe we should pony up $50 million or so and let congressmen hire "economic trainers," writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post. Those who complain that the stimulus has too much spending just don't get it.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • economics • recession • US economy • economic stimulus package

OPINION

Crisis Turns Econ Theory
on Its Ear:

Models, and pols, don't account for biases, insecurities: Brooks

Jan 16, 09 1:03 PM CST
(Newser) - Classical economics is based on the idea that “reason rides the passions the way a rider sits atop a horse,” David Brooks writes in the New York Times—which means classical economics is pretty much out the window right now. The recession proves the market is a psychological... More »

MORE ABOUT:
investors • economics • psychology • free markets • consumer psychology • economy • financial crisis

OPINION

'Intangible' Jobs—Health, Education—Are US' Best Bet

Knowledge-based sector gains jobs; those making homes, autos disappearing

Dec 11, 08 4:51 PM CST
(Newser) - The job market may be hitting rock bottom, but the “intangible" sector of the economy—comprising industries that, like health care and education, produce nothing concrete but have long-lasting effects—could be the best path for development, writes economist Michael Mandel in BusinessWeek. “Tangible” industries—like manufacturing—have... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • health care industry • job creation • Obamanomics • financial crisis • President Obama • "intangible" economy

OPINION

Infrastructure Revitalization Is Right and Right

A conservative argues for investing in water, energy, transport

Dec 8, 08 12:12 PM CST
(Newser) - Conservatives who fear that investing in the nation’s infrastructure goes against core Reaganite values need to get over it. Our aging energy, water, and transportation systems are in dire need of corporate dollars and ingenuity, but “the private sector alone cannot handle the job—and the states are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • electricity • Reagan Revolution • investment • transportation • infrastructure • Treasury Department • drinking water • conservative base

Secret UK Report Says Olympics Benefits Overrated

2012 could be awkward

Dec 2, 08 12:54 PM CST
(Newser) - The UK made its grab for the 2012 Olympic Games in defiance of a secret, 205-page strategy report concluding that, apart from being a nice party, the games were essentially useless, the Times reports. Representing almost a year of research by experts, the 2002 document was signed off on... More »

MORE ABOUT:
London • economics • 2012 London Olympics

opinion

Keynes Not a Dirty Word Anymore

Ideas of slandered economist could save the world

Nov 8, 08 7:58 PM CST
(Newser) - In his time, John Maynard Keynes was revered as a genius for his belief that humans shouldn’t “think of themselves as victims of impersonal economic laws,” writes Nick Fraser of the Independent. Later, conservatives mocked him and tarnished his name, attaching the word “Keynesian” to “... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • England • John Maynard Keynes

1 - 20 of 57 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>


from our news partners