The Economist: Free Exchange

Parsing the Federal Reserve

<p>THE Federal Reserve left a lot of people scratching their heads this week. Between Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony, and the release of the minutes to the May 1st&nbsp;Federal Open ...

The wages of sin

<p>MUST we pay for past sins? Michael Kinsley <a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113220/paul-krugmans-misguided-moral-crusade-against-austerity">thinks so</a>:&...

Link exchange

<p>TODAY'S recommended economics writing:</p><p>• <a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a-structural-focus-for-the-euro-crisis-by-kenneth-rogoff"...

Things could be better

<p><div class="content-image-float"><img src="/sites/default/files/imagecache/original-size/images/2013/05/blogs/free-exchange/pewecon.jpg" alt="" title...

Out of harm's way

<p>IT HAS been almost a month since the collapse of a factory building in Bangladesh killed over 1,100 garment workers. The tragedy led to outrage in Bangladesh over the recklessness of the b...

Right into the dollar zone

<p>MY SUNDAY <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/05/euro-crisis-0">post</a> on the importance of inflation in Germany seems to have been misunderst...

Link exchange

<p>TODAY'S recommended economics writing:</p><p>• <a href="http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2013/05/do-big-cities-help-college-graduates-find-better-job...

Big bills left in the shipping container

<p>I LOVE the history of the shipping container. Nothing could be more confounding to our usual ideas about innovation, stagnation, and technology.</p><p>Imagine for a moment that...

The ECB can't substitute for periphery financial reform

<p><em>A recent&nbsp;<a href="http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21577060-european-central-bank-has-lost-control-interest-rates-spain-and">Free exch...

Der Elefant im Raum

<p>TYLER COWEN <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/marginalrevolution/feed/~3/H0tR5LIk834/does-the-eurozone-have-a-monetary-policy-transmission-mechanism-or-rather-a-liquidity-lea...