Inequality at WSJ
Andrew Blackman at Wall Street Journal asked several economists for ideas on “what to do about inequality?” As you can imagine, I argued with the question.
Economics
The Grumpy Economist.
News, views, and commentary from a free market point of view.
Recent essays
30 of 46Hoover Monetary Policy Conference 2026 Overview Essay
This is an overview essay.
Hoover Monetary Policy Conference 2026
The slides and videos from the May 8 2026 Hoover Monetary Policy Conference are up.
Tech Stock Singularity
The huge SpaceX IPO has spawned the following speculation: Index funds are forced to buy shares of new large companies, in proportion to their market capitalization.
Warsh's Challenges: Monetary Policy
This is an OpEd at the Washington Post, their title “How to protect the economy from the ghosts of 1979.”
Two books
The Hoover Press just released two books that I co-edited, that readers may find interesting
Has the Time Come for Dollarization in the Americas?
Last week I did a very interesting (to me at least) panel at CATO on dollarization in Latin America, focusing on Argentina.
1979 update
From Jesper Rangvid Disclaimer, this is thought provoking fun, not serious analysis.
Book Sale
It’s a great moment to buy usually overpriced books at Princeton:
The Iran War Doesn’t Have to Be a Rerun of ‘That ’70s Show’
Rising energy prices turn into recessions only if bad government policies compound their effects
Inside the Fed's Balance Sheet
A video and podcast interview with Darrell Duffie, based on his excellent recent article. Click here to watch/listen via Hoover’s Freedom Frequency series.
War and Interest Rates
You knew about oil prices, discussed in a previous post. Now attention is turning to the sharp rise of long-term interest rates. From Ian Smith, Sam Fleming, and Olaf Storbeck in the Financial Times:
How to turn a price shock into inflation
A friend in Greece sends this article on how to deal with high energy prices.
Smith and Jefferson at 250
Last week was the 250th anniversary of the Wealth of Nations. For the Hoover “weekly rants” I looked up what must be the top two Smith quotes:
War and Oil
I’ve had a running debate with some colleagues over the economic consequences of the war.
EFG Review
Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the NBER Economic Fluctuations and Growth meeting at the San Francisco Fed, organized by Luigi Bocola and Linda Tesar.
Does History Rhyme?
Update on a graph I’ve been following for a few years, most recently last year, this one courtesy of Niall Ferguson.
Refine
I recently tried refine, an AI tool for refining academic articles, developed by Yann Calvó López and Ben Golub.
A new Fed-Treasury Accord?
A reporter asked me about a new Fed-Treasury Accord, referencing articles in Bloomberg and Forbes about Kevin Warsh’s comments.
1951
What happened in the great tussle for Fed independence in 1951, and what lessons does that have for today?
Inflation
I just posted a draft of a short book with this title (click on the link for the book draft), resulting from the Karl Brunner Lecture I gave last fall.
Big Picture Asset Pricing
This is a keynote talk I gave at the Global Banking and Finance Conference - XLRI Delhi NCR 2026.
Misplaced Nostalgia
This short article appeared in the Coolidge Review, where it is much more nicely formatted.
Balancing the Budget, P.J. O'Rourke
It’s so hard, everyone says.
Trump on Tariffs and Investment
President Trump published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Jan 30.
IEA Interview on economic policy
I did this interview with Tom Clougherty while visiting the Institute of Economic Affairs in London last September.
Video
I’ve been traveling a bit lately and catching up on some writing deadlines, hence less posting than usual.
Trump and monetary policy: Full Oped
This is a WSJ oped that I can now publish in its entirety.
Brazilian Inflation and Disinflation
Last week I read a nice capsule history of Brazilian inflation, by Pedro Carvalho.
Price Control Apologia
My colleague and friend Neale Mahoney writes in favor of price and rent controls in the Sunday New York Times, with Bharat Ramamurti.