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NEWS ABOUT: economics

NYT's Krugman Wins Nobel Economic Prize

Globalization expert blames Bush for current crisis

(Newser) - Paul Krugman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics this morning, Reuters reports, in recognition for his work on globalization and free trade. Krugman, a New York Times columnist, Princeton professor, and staunch Bush critic, has long been a favorite for the award, but says it came as a surprise... More »

Euros Eat Their Words as Own Bailouts Loom

A week after ripping US for crisis, dismissing need for own plan, Brown et al. retool

(Newser) - European leaders are eating their words a week after criticizing the US for allowing its banks to run dry and engineering a system-wide bailout for financial firms, Bloomberg reports. Governments across Europe, including Germany, the UK, Belgium and France bailed out banks across the continent and pledged support for others... More »

Downturns Spark 'Witch Hunts' Against Elderly

People lash out during tough times, researchers explain

(Newser) - "Witch-hunting” is a hot term these days as angry Wall Street investors pine for revenge—but in some countries they take it literally, Tim Harford writes in Slate. In Tanzania, Bolivia, and India, elderly women are often targeted as witches when resources are scarce. Tanzanian women are killed by... More »

'Obamanomics': A Tough Sell in America?

Obama's economics lean left and right, until he talks taxes

(Newser) - Barack Obama will face a crippled economy if he wins in November, but what fiscal policies will he put to use? “My core economic theory is pragmatism,” says Obama, a liberal who picked up free market notions when teaching at the University of Chicago. His policies on health... More »

Greenspan: Housing Will Hit Bottom in 2009

Skilled immigrants would help end slump, he says

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan said housing prices could continue to edge lower through 2009, but should “stabilize or touch bottom” in the first six months of the year, reports the Wall Street Journal. And, the former Fed chief says, while a government bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie May was the... More »

Greenspan to Government: Hands Off

Market capitalism can ride out the crisis, writes former Fed boss

(Newser) - The credit crisis is far from over, and more banks and financial institutions might require government bailouts along the way, Alan Greenspan acknowledges. The crunch will relax only when home prices, "the ultimate collateral support for much of the financial world’s mortgage-backed securities," begin to stabilize, the... More »

Economist Rates Art by Numbers

Professor studies textbook reproductions to determine greatness

(Newser) - Most art historians would agree that Pablo Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon is a great painting. But one economist says it's the best work of art of the 20th century, and he can prove it. The New York Times reports on the work of David Galenson, who analyzed the frequency of reproductions... More »

Global Econ Puzzle Awaits New President

Kick-starting economy means looking abroad, write Goldman chiefs

(Newser) - Whether it's John McCain or Barack Obama, the next president will confront a global economic landscape unlike anything his predecessor confronted, write Robert Hormats and Jim O'Neill. In an op-ed for the Financial Times, the two Goldman Sachs executives explain that the new president's greatest challenge will be the rise... More »

Most Lucrative College Majors

Computer engineering tops list for grads seeking quick cash

(Newser) - College students looking for fast cash after graduation should study computer engineering, Forbes reports. Here are the most lucrative college majors, with salaries for beginners and veterans alike:
  • Computer engineering ($60,500-$104,000)
  • Economics ($48,000-$96,200)
  • Electrical engineering ($59,900-$96,100)
  • Computer science ($54,200-$94,000)
  • Mechanical engineering ($56,
... More »

It's Official: Bikinis Make Men Stupid

Scientists say sex drive trumps common sense

(Newser) - Men make dumb decisions when ogling bikini-clad beauties—conventional wisdom, sure, but now there's some science behind it. Belgian researchers found that men bombarded with sexy images have a definite drop-off in cognitive skills when compared with those who gaze at landscapes, reports MSNBC. The experiment supports earlier findings that... More »

How Government Can Buy You Happiness

Economists need to start thinking about quality of life

(Newser) - While the jury's still out on whether money can buy happiness, a higher gross domestic product certainly doesn't. In rich countries, well-being really does depend on non-material things like family stability, a friendly community, and job security—and economists should start incorporating quality-of-life issues into policy, John Cassidy writes in... More »

Labor Blasts Obama's Top Economist

Unions worry that candidate is tilting toward Wall Street

(Newser) - After locking up the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama moved quickly to bring Clinton supporters into his general election tent, including Robert Rubin, President Clinton's treasury secretary. Jason Furman, an economist closely associated with Rubin, was hired as economic policy director, and that's provoked the ire of labor unions, who see... More »

Phone Data Used to Map Human Activity

Study, outside US, finds ingrained habits, raises privacy issues

(Newser) - Researchers using mobile-phone data to study patterns of human movement find that we're quite creatures of habit, the BBC reports. The 100,000 randomly selected subjects—outside the US, where such tracking would be illegal, the AP notes—remained mostly in the same small area, traveling less than 6½ miles... More »

Bankrupt, Linens 'n Things Will Fold 120 Stores

Retailer files for Chapter 11 as consumer spending falls

(Newser) - Linens 'n Things filed for bankruptcy protection today, MarketWatch reports, and plans to close 120 stores nationwide as other operations continue. "The significant deterioration in the mortgage, housing and credit markets and the resulting impact on the retail marketplace, particularly the home sector, has overwhelmed the operating and merchandising... More »

Economists Slam Clinton, McCain Gas-Tax Cut

Oil companies would be winners in plan that fails 'Economics 101'

(Newser) - Economists and a leading House Democrat are blasting the gas-tax cut proposed by both John McCain and Hillary Clinton, the Washington Post reports. Economists say most of the savings would flow right to the oil companies' bottom line, rather than into voters’ pockets. That's because the tax vacation would raise... More »

India, China Growth Breaks Western Mold

Essayist says market reforms are only part of the big picture

(Newser) - Conventional wisdom chalks up the economic booms in China and India to their moves toward global capitalism in the '90s. It's a comforting thought for the West, writes Pranab Bardhan in the Boston Review, but the truth is far more complex. The astounding growth in both countries started well before... More »

Davos Summit: a Moral Sham?

Moguls shed guilt and seek bailout money, but do pay homage to ideas: Guardian

(Newser) - The Davos summit, an annual retreat “where money comes to find morality and politics comes to meet money,” is the capital of capitalism—yet the world's economic crisis is only spoken of in whispers there, writes Julian Glover in the Guardian. Instead, moguls press the flesh with Middle... More »

White House Economic Guru Stepping Down

Al Hubbard departure said to strengthen Paulson's hand

(Newser) - Top White House economics adviser Al Hubbard will step down by year's end, the AP reports. Hubbard, who has expressed frustration over his inability to get Bush economic initiatives through the Democrat-controlled Congress, will be replaced by deputy Keith Hennessy. Hubbard's departure will boost the influence of less ideological, more... More »

Study Traces Europe's Bets on Civil War

This re-enactment uses Confederate bonds, not weapons

(Newser) - Studying sales of Confederacy bonds in Amsterdam during the US Civil War, two economists say they're able to judge how European traders saw the South's chances of victory, the Wall Street Journal reports. Investors pegged the rebels' odds at 42% early on, but their 1863 defeat at Gettysburg sank bond... More »

3 Americans Share Nobel in Economics

Prize awarded for mechanism design theory

(Newser) - Americans Leonid Hurwicz, Eric Maskin, and Roger Myerson have won this year’s Nobel Prize in economics for developing "mechanism design theory,"  which indicates when markets are working effectively, Reuters reports. The theory can be used to assess the factors which make individuals and corporations deviate from... More »

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