NPR's Planet Money on Reinhart-Rogoff

NPR's Planet Money podcast has a good piece on the revelation of the Reinhart-Rogoff excel error that has weakened their claim that 90% debt/GDP is the tipping point for slower economic growth.  The piece also asks the bigger philosophical question about whether macroeconomics is getting better, or even if it is good at all.  Here it is:

On-line Inflation Data

The radio program Marketplace has a good short story on the way inflation is calculated and how the Billion Prices Project is changing it.

How Close is Oligopoly to Monopoly?

The New Yorker looks at how Oligopoly pricing is similar to monopoly in how wireless pricing works.

Bitcoin - Is it money or is it a commodity - or both?

The rise (and fall) or Bitcoin has gained a lot of attention.  Will it succeed as a new digital currency is one one big open question.  This article from the New Yorker explains the origins of Bitcoin and how it will work as a currency.  However, there are problems with it being able to work as a currency if there is no central bank and a limited supply - it is a commodity more like gold - argues this article from the Atlantic.  

Krugman's Babysitting Co-op and Monetary Policy

This is the link to the classic Slate article with Krugman's analogy between monetary policy and a babysitting co-op.

The Mystery of Declining Productivity

John Cassidy of the New Yorker has a good blog post/short article about the mystery and debate about the decline in productivity and what it might mean for the real benefits of the Internet on economic growth.  However, that does not mean that the the Internet has not brought real tangible benefits.  The Free Exchange column at the Economist describes the way economists have been trying to calculate the real value in consumer surplus created by the Internet.

Debate Within the Fed Goes Public

The New York Times has a great article about the public debate between top Fed officials Charles L. Evans and Jeffrey M. Lacker.  
 

New Area of Study - History of Capitalism

The New York Times has a good short article (with lots of embedded links) about the rising popularity of teaching the history of capitalism.