{"id":435,"date":"2009-02-23T15:45:13","date_gmt":"2009-02-23T20:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/?p=435"},"modified":"2012-05-05T23:52:54","modified_gmt":"2012-05-06T04:52:54","slug":"the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/","title":{"rendered":"The Economic Pits with James Poterba"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: this interview was broadcast on the WGBH public radio affiliate WCAI, on the Cape and Islands!<\/p>\n<div class=\"img size-thumbnail wp-image-437 alignleft\" style=\"width:328px;\">\r\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"328\" height=\"208\" \/><\/a>\r\n\t<div>James Poterba<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savagechickens.com\/2009\/01\/economic-crisis.html\" target=\"_blank\"> What is the right expression<\/a> to describe today’s economic nightmare? I’m sick of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bradenton.com\/news\/local\/story\/1244401.html\" target=\"_blank\">“mess”<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2009\/02\/13\/AR2009021303113.html\" target=\"_blank\">“crisis”<\/a> is too bland. What about <a href=\"https:\/\/business.theage.com.au\/business\/scrutiny-for-cesspool-of-bad-debts-20090213-873j.html\" target=\"_blank\">“cesspool”<\/a>? Well, I compromised with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.financialsense.com\/fsu\/editorials\/laird\/2008\/0221.html\" target=\"_blank\">“pits”<\/a> — feel free to add your own juicy descriptions in ThoughtCast’s comments section!<br \/>\nEither way, I dived into the “pool” with <a href=\"https:\/\/econ-www.mit.edu\/faculty\/poterba\/short\" target=\"_blank\">MIT’s Mitsui Professor of Economics James Poterba,<\/a> who’s also the head of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nber.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Bureau of Economic Research<\/a>, the think tank in charge of determining when recessions start … and end. Wouldn’t that be nice? Headlines proclaiming the “end” of this rather inordinate business cycle.<br \/>\nAre these ups and downs indeed just a part of capitalism’s inevitable booms and busts? Ought we to accept them as natural, rather than resist them? Or ought we to scrap the “system” and rebuild? You tell me…<br \/>\nBut first, listen to this: <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/poterbafinal15-30mono.mp3\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/mike.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a> (15:30 minutes).<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_3734\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-435-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/poterbafinal15-30mono.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/poterbafinal15-30mono.mp3\">https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/poterbafinal15-30mono.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/poterbafinal15-30mono.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/?powerpress_pinw=435-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/poterbafinal15-30mono.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"poterbafinal15-30mono.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><!--powerpress_player-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Note: this interview was broadcast on the WGBH public radio affiliate WCAI, on the Cape and Islands! James Poterba What is the right expression to describe today’s economic nightmare? I’m sick of “mess” and “crisis” is too bland. What about “cesspool”? Well, I compromised with “pits” — feel free to add your own juicy descriptions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,180,27,139],"tags":[329,73,773,330,72],"class_list":["post-435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-mit","category-politics","category-psychology","tag-james-poterba","tag-jenny-attiyeh","tag-mit","tag-national-bureau-of-economic-research","tag-thoughtcast"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Economic Pits with James Poterba - https:\/\/thoughtcast.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Economic Pits with James Poterba - https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Note: this interview was broadcast on the WGBH public radio affiliate WCAI, on the Cape and Islands! James Poterba What is the right expression to describe today’s economic nightmare? I’m sick of “mess” and “crisis” is too bland. What about “cesspool”? Well, I compromised with “pits” — feel free to add your own juicy descriptions […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-02-23T20:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-05-06T04:52:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jenny\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/\",\"name\":\"The Economic Pits with James Poterba - https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-02-23T20:45:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-05-06T04:52:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#\/schema\/person\/482634bb87dd8569f57e861fc819f6b8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Economic Pits with James Poterba\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/\",\"name\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\",\"description\":\"An online watering hole for ideas\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#\/schema\/person\/482634bb87dd8569f57e861fc819f6b8\",\"name\":\"Jenny\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a1f3a024733a69a5f9a2ecbcbd5d47e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a1f3a024733a69a5f9a2ecbcbd5d47e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jenny\"},\"description\":\"Welcome to ThoughtCast, an online watering hole for ideas. Our focus is on conversations with authors, academics and intellectuals. I\u2019m Jenny Attiyeh, the host and producer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/author\/jenny-attiyeh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Economic Pits with James Poterba - https:\/\/thoughtcast.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Economic Pits with James Poterba - https:\/\/thoughtcast.org","og_description":"Note: this interview was broadcast on the WGBH public radio affiliate WCAI, on the Cape and Islands! James Poterba What is the right expression to describe today’s economic nightmare? I’m sick of “mess” and “crisis” is too bland. What about “cesspool”? Well, I compromised with “pits” — feel free to add your own juicy descriptions […]","og_url":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/","og_site_name":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org","article_published_time":"2009-02-23T20:45:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-05-06T04:52:54+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Jenny","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jenny","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/","url":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/","name":"The Economic Pits with James Poterba - https:\/\/thoughtcast.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg","datePublished":"2009-02-23T20:45:13+00:00","dateModified":"2012-05-06T04:52:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#\/schema\/person\/482634bb87dd8569f57e861fc819f6b8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/poterbapix.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-economic-pits-with-james-poterba\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Economic Pits with James Poterba"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/","name":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org","description":"An online watering hole for ideas","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#\/schema\/person\/482634bb87dd8569f57e861fc819f6b8","name":"Jenny","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a1f3a024733a69a5f9a2ecbcbd5d47e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a1f3a024733a69a5f9a2ecbcbd5d47e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jenny"},"description":"Welcome to ThoughtCast, an online watering hole for ideas. Our focus is on conversations with authors, academics and intellectuals. I\u2019m Jenny Attiyeh, the host and producer.","sameAs":["https:\/\/thoughtcast.org"],"url":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/author\/jenny-attiyeh\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pjWRe-71","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}