Erik Hare

Erik Hare is an Economics and Business columnist for MintPress. Hare is author of "The Long View", which focuses on decades long trends that influence our economic lives. Hare is also a freelance writer and world renown blogger at Barataria. His work has appeared in Salon, the Star-Tribune, St Paul Pioneer Press, many other publications. Hare also holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon, and holds 9 US patents.

A Triple Threat: The Three Forces That Define The Economy

A deeper understanding of these forces should lead to a more productive politics where real choices about the future of the nation are debated in light of the dynamic nature of the situation we all face together.

Erik Hare
By Erik Hare
This Nov. 16, 2012 file photo shows President Barack Obama shaking hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, during a meeting to discuss the deficit and economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

When there is a long-term economic downturn, it is popular to blame the situation on those in power.  The “blame game” enters politics easily from whichever center of power any one person wants to blame – typically either big government or big business. While this exercise is easy and offers some degree of truth, there are three large forces of

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Globalization, Not Nationalism, Drives The World

The world has changed, and largely for the better. But while governments can spike their way out of a temporary bad situation they can’t rely on trashing their currency forever.

Erik Hare
By Erik Hare

The year was 1930.  The greatest depression in U.S. history closed around the nation like a dark shadow.  Congress was desperate to do something that put the nation to work again.  What could do it?  Rep. Willis Hawley and Sen. Reed Smoot had a plan – close down imports and make Americans buy products made in America. Their Smoot-Hawley Tariff

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The Great Convergence: A New Era Of Globalization

As the world becomes one big economy, struggling nations will rise substantially until the great convergence is complete – not only economically, but politically and socially.

Erik Hare
By Erik Hare

The big story of the last 20 years has been a tale of two worlds coming together.  While the developed world experienced a decade of growth in the 1990s followed by stagnation and then decline in the 2000s, the developing world saw nothing but growth.  The two  phenomena are related in the tremendous expansion of credit and general money supply,

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The Great Euphemism

What is a “Great Recession” if not a “Depression”?

Erik Hare
By Erik Hare

The obvious term for the economy we are all suffering through has been carefully avoided, as if the dreaded “D-word” might create a panic.  Yet that term has steadily caught on, if not in the popular media.  Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman has taken to using it consistently, among others.  But for many people, especially working families, the hardship

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How Many Jobs Are There?

Progressives usually trace income inequality back to policy from Republican administrations, but it seems to go back much further than anyone realizes.

Erik Hare
By Erik Hare

Income inequality is finally getting the attention it deserves.  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ignited the imagination of the city running against it, but his focus is even larger. “This inequality problem bedevils the entire country,” he said in his inaugural address. “It is not just a moral outrage, it is a horrible constraint on economic growth

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