http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com Christianity and Economics Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:19:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2010/07/08/christina-romer-on-taxes/ http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2010/07/08/christina-romer-on-taxes/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:08:53 +0000 Stephen J. Haessler http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/?p=1299
Economist Christina Romer and economist husband David Romer have a new way of measuring the effects of tax changes on the economy. One of their findings is that tax increases reduce GDP (national income) and that tax decreases stimulate the national economy. In short, tax increases appear to have a very large, sustained, and highly [...]]]> http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2010/07/08/christina-romer-on-taxes/feed/ 0 http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2010/06/27/european-crises/ http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2010/06/27/european-crises/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:12:14 +0000 Stephen J. Haessler http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/?p=1293
What are principles from Catholic social doctrine and economics that guide thinking on Europe’s current problems? From Catholic social doctrine, we have at least three principles: -regulation of the economy -moral dimensions of the economy -Christian anthropology From economics we have these ideas to aid our thinking: -government counter-cyclical stabilization interventions -monetary policy -fiscal policy For information on what these principles mean see the [...]]]> http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2010/06/27/european-crises/feed/ 0 http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/10/05/clunker-stimulus/ http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/10/05/clunker-stimulus/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:36:31 +0000 Stephen J. Haessler http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/?p=1195
Today’s Wall Street Journal editorial mentions a study by Burton Abrams and George Parsons which finds that the ‘cash for clunkers’ program cost $2,000 per vehicle over the benefits of replacing less with more efficient vehicles. This works out to about $1.4 billion less for the US economy. With stimulus like this, who needs a recession? ]]> http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/10/05/clunker-stimulus/feed/ 0 http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/03/11/mankiw-krugman-wager-over-growth/ http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/03/11/mankiw-krugman-wager-over-growth/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:58:11 +0000 Stephen J. Haessler http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/?p=940
My money’s on Mankiw. The bet was offered by Harvard economist Greg Mankiw over the projected growth of the United States economy between 2008 and 2013. The growth rate the Obama administration is using is 15.6%.  Earth to Obama administration. Mankiw asserts that the projected growth rates are overly optimistic. Paul Krugman has not taken the bet. [...]]]> http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/03/11/mankiw-krugman-wager-over-growth/feed/ 2 http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/03/02/catholic-economists-on-stimulus-package/ http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/03/02/catholic-economists-on-stimulus-package/#comments Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:23:53 +0000 Stephen J. Haessler http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/?p=887
There’s an important article in the recent Our Sunday Visitor by Joseph O’Brien titled Catholic Economists Take Issue with Federal Stimulus Package. The article highlights some economists’ concerns with the recently passed stimulus package, or Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Both liberals like Alan S. Blinder and conservatives like John Mueller are concerned about [...]]]> http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2009/03/02/catholic-economists-on-stimulus-package/feed/ 4 http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2008/12/16/between-a-liquidity-trap-and-stimulus-hard-place/ http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2008/12/16/between-a-liquidity-trap-and-stimulus-hard-place/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:50:18 +0000 Stephen J. Haessler http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/?p=561
To borrow a frequently uttered and painfully obvious observation from Everett, George Clooney’s character in the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” we’re in a tight spot. But so are economic policy makers. On the one hand, the federal funds rate is now so low that further interest rate cuts designed to encourage lending and investment, like the Fed’s historic action [...]]]> http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2008/12/16/between-a-liquidity-trap-and-stimulus-hard-place/feed/ 0 http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2008/09/25/stabilization/ http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2008/09/25/stabilization/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:11:51 +0000 Stephen J. Haessler http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/?p=135
The St. Simon lesson explores scriptural references to economic stability, Catholic perspectives on the proper role of the state in promoting human dignity, and the economics of monetary and fiscal stabilization policies. Students apply what they learned by writing and presenting a report on current macroeconomic conditions and appropriate economic and moral policy proscriptions. ]]> http://www.apostlesandmarkets.com/2008/09/25/stabilization/feed/ 0