This week, I have been mostly driving between home and the hospital as my dear lady wife waited (and waited, and waited…) for surgery, so the few most interesting things I've read are:

• Intellectual property and the decline of the U.S. labor share — Nick Bunker, Wahington Center for Equitable Growth: According to the paper, the decline [in the US labor share] starts in 1947, which would mean the labor share was declining throughout the period it was famously stated to be constant. But not only does the decline start earlier than previously thought—it’s also much larger. It’s actually twice as large. And the increase in intellectual property products explains the entirety of the decline.
• George Obsorne says its austerity, whether it busts us or not — Richard Murphy: At the precise moment when the economy needs investment more than anything else, in flood defences and onwards, and at a time when we do as a nation not only have the capacity to deliver that investment because there is a shortfall in demand for other goods and services, but also have the means to fund that investment because borrowing costs are, for the government, little above zero per cent in real terms right now, George Osborne is saying he will not make any effort to help the UK economy by undertaking that essential investment programme. He is instead saying that when demand is weak he will make it weaker. And that when investment is needed he will not undertake it.
• The mass consumption era and the rise of neo-liberalism — Bill Mitchell: The research I have been doing in the last few days continues the theme that globalisation has not rendered the nation state impotent. The thesis, as outlined in the introduction, is that the nation state has just changed its role and now uses its power to advance more narrow interests than previously.
• The Best Paid People in Our Societies Are the Worst People — Ian Welsh: Private bankers and financial execs make almost all of the investment decisions in our society. They decide what will be built, what jobs will be created, etc. They are the people who decide if something will happen and they make terrible decisions–even based on their own valuation system. […] Do not speak of “salary” and “merit” in the same sentence except with scorn. When the CEO doesn’t show up, so what? When the janitor doesn’t show up, though, hey! We find out who really matters.
• Who Are The Prominent Academics Who Advocate A Different Type of QE? — Frank Van Lerven, Positive Money: In a recent post Positive Money showed that there is a strong intellectual body of history behind the various alternative proposals for QE. Both John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman proposed a style of Quantitative Easing (QE) that was aimed at the real economy. Today, these types of proposals are commonly referred to as “QE for People”, “Sovereign Money Creation”, “Strategic QE” and “Helicopter Money” amongst others.