End January Links

Why the multiplier doesn't matter - A great post from Noah Smith on why we should be investing in infrastructure irrespective of Keynesian effects.
Avoiding the B word - and goverments should proudly tell the world they're BORROWING (so that everyone else can pay off their debt)

Up from Here? Panel discussion on ‘The Impediments to Recovery’ with K. Arrow, R. Gordon, E. Laursen and Y. Varoufakis - the `What should we do' section is worth copying: "

1. End the banks’ incentives to profit from the deposit-loans gap.
2. A coordinated program for private debt reduction (a QE for the masses as my friend and colleague Steve Keen puts it).
3. Coordinated spending programs at G20 level – toward a Global Manhattan Project for Green Energy.
4. Working toward labour intensive health and education sectors.
5. Establish a WTO-like framework for recycling surpluses at a planetary scale"

Don't entirely understand no.1 but the others have my 100% agreement (no.4 is to do with the `Rise of the robots' post of Krugman linked to in December).
Do we ever rise from the floor? Steve Randy Waldman summarises an interesting debate (with Krugman & presumably with the "MMT'ers") on central banking in the post-QE era, related to the economic effects of the central bank paying interest on reserves held by the commercial banks. US focussed, not sure what the BoE does.
Zero emission synfuel from seawater - this sounds amazing! And also good is ITER gets a home.
The state as risk manager - interesting stuff, and I think that this is the right way to think about things. Unfortunately, I don't believe that many of the general public view state benefits as insurance, but rather as something that other people not like them get.
Inequality and demand - another fantastic post from Steve Randy Waldman in which he again trumps Krugman
Scottish science is ready to go it alone - interesting interjection to the independence debate in Nature