Liberal Conspiracy want articles

by Helen Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 07:23:34 AM EST

Liberal conspiracy is a leftish UK Labour Party-supporting blog which I consider is pretty good and deserves support. It is, necessarily, focused on UK politics with just a hint of US colour, but very little european coverage.

However, the editor and principal contributor, Sunny Hundal, has gone off to volunteer for the Obama campaign and those left in charge, recognising that footfall will be reduced if there isn't a decent turnover of diaries, have requested input from the readership.

Liberal conspiracy - Don Paskini - Open Thread - LibCon over the next month

Are there any topics that you'd like us to cover or write more about?
Are there any bloggers that you think we should ask to do guest posts?
Would you like to write an article for us?
If you want to get in touch, I'm at donpaskini AT liberalconspiracy DOT org or on twitter @donpaskini

One thing I feel is often missing from the economic debate in the UK is any real sense of an alternative economic agenda separate from the neoconservative one shared by all three major parties here. Given that this has become the major focus of ET in the last year or two, I think maybe we could crowd-source a primer article or two putting forward new ways of thinking. Perhaps beginning with critiquing the current BB/ECB approaches to the European default and how it is destroying Greece and Spain.

Maybe looking at how Iceland approached dealing with its debt and those responsible and how it now appears to be emerging from the period of pain.

I don't know, I'm not one of the economics whizzes here, but this represents a window of opportunity to promote ET on a national political stage

Liberal Conspiracy want articles | 16 comments (16 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (4.00 / 3)

You have a better feel for the audience we'd be writing for, so I'll just throw out some ideas. In roughly increasing order of jargon density:

How excessive inequality damages your economy: Money is necessary for a modern economy, so when all the money ends up in too few hands, the economy breaks.

The upcoming resource shortages, and how austerity prevents us from dealing rationally with them: We've already seen the end of cheap oil, we're beginning to see the end of cheap coal, gas has never been cheap. Steel and cement will not be cheaper in our lifetime than they are right now. This is, eh, not the right time to defer capital expenditures on the energy transition.

Why inflation does not harm your competitiveness: This is what having a floating currency does for you.

Political aspects of the current Eurozone crisis: The design of the Euro viewed as a compromise between different groups of German oligarchs, and why this compromise creates such intractable crises.

Rethinking macrostabilization policy: Use the central bank to ensure stability of the foreign accounts, the treasury to ensure full employment, and counter-cyclical margin requirements to ensure price stability.

Interest rate policy beyond the overnight rate: Using the discount window and strategic currency policy to conduct interest rate policy across the entire yield curve.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 11:01:30 AM EST

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (4.00 / 2)

I like this one

The upcoming resource shortages, and how austerity prevents us from dealing rationally with them: We've already seen the end of cheap oil, we're beginning to see the end of cheap coal, gas has never been cheap. Steel and cement will not be cheaper in our lifetime than they are right now. This is, eh, not the right time to defer capital expenditures on the energy transition.

Also simply

resource austerity and money austerity are not the same thing
coomody ty money is undesirable (because of its deflationary effects) even if engineers and environmental economists tend to like the idea of an energy-standard money
economic growth in a resource-poor environment requires a shift to personal services and other non-resource-intensive activities, which can be expanded without impinging on resource limits

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 11:20:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 0)

Economic growth in a resource-constrained environment requires a clear distinction between nominal and real growth - the former is necessary, the latter is just a bonus.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 11:58:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 1)

Nominal growth being necessary ties in with the concept, increasingly in fashion among New Keynesian neoclassicals (e.g., Brad deLong) that central banks should target Nominal GDP Growth rather than inflation or the monetary mass. Which deficit hawks think is anathema, and MMTers think is harmless nonsense.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 12:02:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 1)

The MMT objection to central bank NGDP targeting (with which I agree) is that the tools available to the central bank are unsuited for that task.

When push comes to shove, the CB can target an NGDP growth path all it wants but it has no means by which to force the economy onto that growth path. It can, in the end, only make what amounts to a polite suggestion. Unlike the treasury, which can, in extremis, make up a shortfall out of whole cloth (given an adequately housebroken central bank).

If there are MMT'ers who additionally think that NGDP targeting is unnecessary in general, then that is one of the cases where I part ways with them. It is all well and fine to have, as the MMT'ers do, a simple, elegant and effective method for resolving financial crises. But it is far better to not need such a method in the first place.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 03:18:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (4.00 / 2)

Well, great, but...

European Tribune wants articles too

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 11:25:00 AM EST

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (4.00 / 3)

And I have been suggesting that our economic gurus write some summations for ages. Cos I know roughly where their ideas are heading but I've no idea of the detail.

And a crowd sourced diary ought to throw up a lot of ancillary ideas to follow up. Here.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 11:59:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 0)

this represents a window of opportunity to promote ET on a national political stage

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 12:49:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 1)

Don't take what I posted for a reproach.

Just a reminder.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 01:47:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 1)

http://twitpic.com/b10isr

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 02:19:29 PM EST

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (4.00 / 3)

Something like that.

I'm always struck by the debate in the US where it seems that the US public are to the left of the Democrats on most issues, but the political centre is deemed to lie in the imagined ground which separates the Repugs and the Dems

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 02:44:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 1)

I think the same happens in the UK pretty much too

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 02:51:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 1)

Well, pre-Clegg there was a tacit assumption that the Lib Dems were around the central mark. Of course now they've moved so far to the right...

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 03:42:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 1)

I would suggest something on three sector national accounting. Analytically very simple but it provides great insights.

Domestic Private Sector Balance = Current Account Balance - Fiscal Balance

It is sort of like explaining that one plus one equals two to someone who doesn't know math. That was how it seemed to me when I read it. Opens up a lot of insights. If one does not accept this approach one is throwing out all of accounting back to the introduction of double entry bookkeeping in the middle ages.

One of Robert Parenteau's articles is here. I would imagine that he or others at New Economic Policy would be glad to provide their most accessible presentation for Liberal Conspiricy. But it should probably be someone from the Liberal Conspiracy blog that contacts them.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Thu Oct 4th, 2012 at 07:52:11 PM EST

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 1)

Maybe the CLASS think tank should be a target too?

http://www.obligedtooffend.com/2012/10/is-class-politics-still-relevant-well.html

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2012 at 10:50:50 AM EST

Re: Liberal Conspiracy want articles (none / 0)

How about a person posting random comments containing impeccable insight? (Ahem)

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Oct 7th, 2012 at 09:55:06 AM EST

Liberal Conspiracy want articles | 16 comments (16 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)