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Caroline Baum
For Caroline Baum's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2013
Five lessons of 2013, guaranteed to be forgotten
One important lesson from 2013 is that we should beware political pronouncements posing as economic forecasts. The U.S. economy had its biggest increase in quarterly GDP in nearly two years despite the government "shutdown effect."
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2013
The revival of a Great Depression-era retread
Paul Krugman and other economists now advocate the kinds of things Keynesians typically promote to stabilize the economy during a recession to become a permanent part of the U.S. fiscal architecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2013
Economists, stop playing in a science lab coat
Why do some economists keep insisting that economics is a science? If they would just give up on the science fixation, they might begin to appreciate the value in what they do.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2013
Ivory tower types press for higher inflation fix
People who experienced 1970s-style inflation must wonder why anyone would wish even a trace of that upon future generations. Some economists want to take that risk.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2013
Attempt to bury monetarist garners no praise
rican economist Paul Krugman is jumping the gun in suggesting that the late monetarist Milton Friedman will be regarded as just a footnote decades from now.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2013
Beef all you want, Helicopter Ben was dropping hints since May
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. It's been a week since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke "surprised" financial markets by telling them exactly what they expected, yet the whining is still going strong.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world