By James Kwak A couple of weeks ago I posted a 6,000-word essay laying out a new economic vision for the Democratic Party. It kind of vanished into the ether, although Stephen Metcalf was kind enough to say this: So here it is, in 27 words: All people need a few basic things: An education A job A place to live Health care A decent retirement Let's make sure everyone has these things. If you want more, there is always the long version.

http://baselinescenario.com/…/a-new-economic-vision-in-27-…/

New post: The Importance of Fairness: A New Economic Vision for the Democratic Party

http://baselinescenario.com/…/telling-a-better-story-a-new…/

New post: Arbitration Clauses and Economism (on a paper by @jsovern)

http://baselinescenario.com/…/economism-and-arbitration-cl…/

By James Kwak The Congressional Budget Office's assessment of the Republican health care plan, as passed in the House, is out. The bottom line is that many more people will lack health coverage than under current law—23 million by 2026—even though the bill allows states to relax the essential health benefits package, which should in theory attract younger, healthier people. [ 665 more words ]

http://baselinescenario.com/2017/05/25/how-markets-work/

By James Kwak Public pension funds are having a tough time. On the one hand, the average funding ratio (assets as a percentage of the present value of future obligations) is below 80% because of inadequate contributions by sponsors (states and municipalities) and poor investment returns since the collapse of the technology bubble in 2000. On the other hand, because pensions responded to low returns by shifting more of their money into hedge funds and private equity funds, a larger proportion of their assets is siphoned off as investment fees each year. [ 521 more words ]

http://baselinescenario.com/2017/05/22/fees-add-up/

By James Kwak After the dangerous clown show that has been the Trump White House, it's comforting to return to some good, old-fashioned conservative policymaking: bashing the poor to cut taxes on the rich. I'm talking, of course, about the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Health care financing can sometimes seem like a complicated topic. Adverse selection, risk adjustment, blah blah blah. [ 646 more words ]

http://baselinescenario.com/…/07/soak-the-poor-feed-the-rich

By James Kwak If you teach introductory economics or introductory micro, at either the high school or university level, and you're interested in possibly using Economism in your class, let me know and I'll send you a (free) review copy. Just email me at james.kwak@uconn.edu from your school account and let me know your shipping address, and I'll order a copy for you. [ 363 more words ]

http://baselinescenario.com/…/03/05/review-copies-of-econom…

New post: Why Is Connecticut Giving Its Employees' Money to the Asset Management Industry?

http://baselinescenario.com/…/why-is-connecticut-giving-its…

New post: The Right to Have Rights

http://baselinescenario.com/…/01/27/the-right-to-have-rights

New post: Economism and Economics

http://baselinescenario.com/20…/…/24/economism-and-economics

New post: Economism and the Law

http://baselinescenario.com/2017/01/23/economism-and-the-law

New post: Economism and Health Care

http://baselinescenario.com/…/…/20/economism-and-health-care

New post: Conflicts and Corruption

http://baselinescenario.com/…/01/12/conflicts-and-corruption

By James Kwak Today, you may be getting your copy of Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality in the mail. Or you may even be able to buy it in a bookstore. But before you crack it open, I want to tell you something. I hate typos. I try to read each of my book manuscripts carefully before submitting them. [ 257 more words ]

http://baselinescenario.com/2017/…/10/economism-typo-contest