Medicare Policy Analysis As Dismal Science

Notes from the Dismal Science

1. Keynesian stimuli don’t work? That assertion amounts to pure propaganda. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Obama stimulus created or saved from one to three million jobs. And many voices joined in. For example, the top economic model building company, Macroeconomic Advisers, estimated a gain of 2.6 million jobs. Even a top conservative economist, Robert Barro, regards the st...

Foreword a Cure for the Dismal Science

I earn a living solving real economic and strategic problems for real businesses. After a number of years of this regimen, I have lost my taste for big theories of human behavior—especially economic theories. My version of game theory consists of playing the game and forgetting about the theory. That's because my incentive system is based not on the aesthetics of theorem proving, but rather on ...

Happy News from the Dismal Science: Reassessing Japanese Fiscal Policy and Sustainability

Demography as social science and policy science

As Science Evolves, How Can Science Policy?

Getting science policy right is a core objective of government that bears on scientific advance, economic growth, health, and longevity. Yet the process of science is changing. As science advances and knowledge accumulates, ensuing generations of innovators spend longer in training and become more narrowly expert, shifting key innovations (i) later in the life cycle and (ii) from solo researche...