Big Questions

Multi-perspective walkthroughs of contested questions

We start with the dispute, work through the formal apparatus, end with a positioned answer. Each Big Question runs in stages — pick where you enter.

Economics

10 walkthroughs · 3 clusters

Macro & Policy

Helfen Staatsausgaben der Wirtschaft?

A viral TikTok says the government can just print money. A Nobel laureate says that’s insane. The multiplier, crowding out, and the zero lower bound give three different answers.

Why can’t we just print money?
“A government that issues its own currency can never run out of money. It can never be forced to default.”
— Stephanie Kelton
Was $787 billion not enough?
“I and others warned from the beginning that the plan was too small.”
— Paul Krugman, The New York Times

Können Zentralbanken die Wirtschaft kontrollieren?

The Fed moves one interest rate and the world follows — until it doesn’t. What happens when the most powerful institution in economics hits its limits?

Is the Fed really in control?
“The Fed controls a single short-term interest rate. Can one lever really steer a $25 trillion economy?”
— common critique
Was the euro a mistake?
“One monetary policy for Germany and Greece. What could go wrong?”
— eurozone critique

Was verursacht Rezessionen?

Economists have studied recessions for a century and still can’t agree on what causes them — let alone how to stop them.

Are recessions actually efficient?
“Real Business Cycle theory says recessions are optimal responses to technology shocks. Most people find this... counterintuitive.”
— RBC critique
Did the mainstream fail in 2008?
“The models didn’t have a financial sector. The biggest financial crisis in 80 years wasn’t in the model.”
— post-crisis critique

Was ist Geld eigentlich?

You use it every day. Economists have argued about what it actually is for three centuries. Bitcoin just made it worse.

Is Bitcoin money?
“Bitcoin isn’t money — it’s digital tulips.”
— Peter Schiff on Joe Rogan
Is the dollar’s reign ending?
“The dollar backs 60% of global reserves. China and the BRICS want to change that. Can they?”
— de-dollarization debate

Markets & Choices

Verursacht der Mindestlohn Arbeitslosigkeit?

The simple model says any price floor kills jobs. Then Card & Krueger actually ran the experiment. The data didn’t cooperate.

$15 minimum wage
“Nobody who works 40 hours a week should be living in poverty.”
— Barack Obama
Living wage debate
“A minimum wage is not a living wage...”
— David Card

Sind Menschen rational?

Economics assumes you maximize utility. Kahneman proved you systematically don’t. So why do markets still mostly work?

Should the government nudge you?
“A nudge is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way.”
— Thaler & Sunstein
Is the crypto market rational?
“People who can’t define ‘blockchain’ invest their life savings in dog-themed coins. Efficient market hypothesis, meet reality.”
— crypto critique

Verteilen Märkte Ressourcen effizient?

The most elegant proof in economics says markets are optimal. The conditions it requires have never existed in the real world.

Carbon tax: the textbook answer?
“Every economist agrees: price the externality. Every politician agrees: good luck getting elected on that.”
— carbon tax debate
Should healthcare be a market?
“You don’t comparison-shop for ambulances. But if healthcare isn’t a market, what is it?”
— healthcare debate

Trade, Development & Inequality

Warum sind manche Länder reich und andere arm?

Norway is 80x richer than Niger. Capital? Ideas? Institutions? Geography? The biggest question in economics has no consensus.

Aid is actively destructive
“Aid has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most parts of the developing world.”
— Dambisa Moyo, Dead Aid
Does China break the story?
“No country in history has lifted more people out of poverty faster. But was it markets, or was it the state?”
— China development debate

Ist Freihandel immer gut?

Comparative advantage promises everyone wins. Tell that to the 2.4 million workers who lost their jobs to the China shock.

Did China kill American jobs?
“Between 1999 and 2011, the China shock destroyed 2.4 million American jobs. Comparative advantage promised everyone would win.”
— Autor, Dorn & Hanson
Trade wars are easy to win
“Trade wars are good, and easy to win.”
— Donald Trump, 2018

Ist Ungleichheit ein Problem, das die Ökonomie lösen kann?

Every policy debate comes back to this: can you help the poor without hurting the economy? The answer depends entirely on who you ask.

Should billionaires exist?
“Every billionaire is a policy failure.”
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Just give people money?
“Universal basic income: the idea that left and right both love and hate, for completely different reasons.”
— UBI debate

More topics will appear here when their walkthroughs ship. As topics multiply, the page becomes a hierarchy: topic → cluster → question.