Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “Unintended Consequences should be read by anyone who takes for granted the superiority of progressive taxation and has not thought carefully about the trade-offs involved.” - The New Republic
Upside of Inequality Unintended Consequences Oxford

Debt

Fed Data Shows Less Lending, Not More Saving, Factor in Recession

In their book, House of Debt, Princeton economist Atif Mian and University of Chicago economist Amir Sufi claim reduced consumption by subprime homeowners occurred when home prices fell and caused the Great Recession. Larry Summers thought the book was “likely to be the most important economics book of 2014.” Paul Krugman cited it as evidence of “problems created by debt overhang.” In a recent blog post, Krugman rails: “The process of deleveraging produces huge, ... Read More

The case for hostage taking

POLITICO By Edward Conard | October 14, 2013 As the budget and debt ceiling-standoff continues in Washington, many are asking the wrong question: Which party will pay a political price for the government shutdown? Democrats are comparing Republicans to “hostage-takers”; Republicans complain that Democrats refuse to negotiate. Here’s the right question: Can we afford not to have this fight? With federal expenditures running 30 percent higher than revenues, debt at ... Read More

Make the President a Spending Offer He Can’t Refuse

Roll Call By Edward Conard | September 30, 2013 Have right-wing Republicans fooled the moderate wing of their party into pursuing a quixotic effort to defund Obamacare at the risk of severely disrupting the government and reducing their chances in the 2014 midterm elections? That seems doubtful. With the Standard & Poor’s volatility index below 15, there is little evidence the financial markets, much less other serious observers, think Congress will fail to ... Read More