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Scott Sumner

Affiliation: Bentley University

Scott Sumner has taught economics at Bentley University for the past 27 years.

He earned a BA in economics at Wisconsin and a PhD at University of Chicago.

Professor Sumner's current research topics include monetary policy targets and the Great Depression. His areas of interest are macroeconomics, monetary theory and policy, and history of economic thought.

Professor Sumner has published articles in the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, and the Bulletin of Economic Research.

Visit: TheMoneyIllusion




Scott Sumner's Latest Articles | 279

The Conservative Fed

Oct 12, 2011| 

Most people agree that the Fed is a conservative institution. But conservative in what sense? Temperamentally, or ideologically? A temperamentally conservative Fed... Read »

Faith in Fiscal Stimulus

Oct 9, 2011| 

Suppose there was a huge stock market crash that destroyed lots of wealth.  Would it reduce AD?  One would think so, and some might cite the 1929 crash.  But... Read »

Will the Fed Exit the Zero Rate Policy Prematurely?

Oct 5, 2011| 

I generally don’t make predictions, I infer market predictions. But this time I’ll make a specific policy prediction—and hope I am wrong. Indeed I hope the... Read »

It’s Not What the ECB Isn’t Doing, It’s What They are Doing

Oct 4, 2011| 

Although there has been a lot of good discussion about the political difficulties involved in solving the euro crisis, almost everyone seems to be missing two important... Read »

The Myth of Volcker’s 1979 Assault on Inflation

Sep 25, 2011| 

Commenter Russ Anderson pointed me toward a Fed publication that discusses the Volcker disinflation: Twenty-five years ago, on October 6, 1979, the Federal Reserve... Read »

Economics is Not A Zero Sum Game

Sep 23, 2011| 

During the last 4 months of 2010 and early 2011 I got a lot of grief from the inflation hawks.  Yes, QE2 seems to have lowered unemployment from 9.8% to 8.8% in... Read »

Why the Dollar Rallied

Sep 22, 2011| 

There seems to be some confusion about yesterday’s rally in the dollar.  Here is Kate Mackenzie and FT.com/Alphaville: As Sumner adds, the dollar rose along with... Read »

The Fed “Succeeded” in Flattening the Yield Curve

Sep 22, 2011| 

Some articles point out one “bright spot” in this dismal day—the Fed succeeded in lowering long term yields.  They also raised short term yields, making the... Read »

The Definition of Treason

Sep 21, 2011| 

Here’s a disturbing story from the Associated Press: WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders of the House and Senate are urging Federal Reserve policymakers against... Read »

Helicopter Drops Would Work, but “Helicopter Drops” Might Well Fail

Sep 20, 2011| 

Steve Waldman has a post discussing the problems involved in making monetary stimulus effective.  He ends up by claiming that “helicopter drops” would certainly... Read »

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