Meta
Categories
- accounting
- Announcements
- architecture
- art
- auctions
- bailouts
- banking
- bankruptcy
- ben stein watch
- blogonomics
- bonds and loans
- charts
- china
- cities
- climate change
- commercial property
- commodities
- consumers
- consumption
- corporatespeak
- credit ratings
- crime
- Culture
- Davos 2008
- Davos 2009
- defenestrations
- demographics
- derivatives
- design
- development
- drugs
- Econoblog
- economics
- education
- emerging markets
- employment
- energy
- entitlements
- eschatology
- euro
- facial hair
- fashion
- Film
- Finance
- fiscal and monetary policy
- food
- foreign exchange
- fraud
- gambling
- geopolitics
- governance
- healthcare
- hedge funds
- holidays
- housing
- humor
- Humour
- iceland
- IMF
- immigration
- infrastructure
- insurance
- intellectual property
- investing
- journalism
- labor
- language
- law
- leadership
- leaks
- M&A
- Media
- milken 2008
- Not economics
- pay
- personal finance
- philanthropy
- pirates
- Politics
- Portfolio
- prediction markets
- private banking
- private equity
- privatization
- productivity
- publishing
- race
- rants
- regulation
- remainders
- research
- Restaurants
- Rhian in Antarctica
- risk
- satire
- science
- shareholder activism
- sovereign debt
- sports
- statistics
- stocks
- taxes
- technocrats
- technology
- trade
- travel
- Uncategorized
- water
- wealth
- world bank
Archives
- March 2023
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- December 2012
- August 2012
- June 2012
- March 2012
- April 2011
- August 2010
- June 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- September 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- December 2002
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
- May 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- January 2002
- December 2001
- November 2001
- October 2001
- September 2001
- August 2001
- July 2001
- June 2001
- May 2001
- April 2001
- March 2001
- February 2001
- January 2001
- December 2000
- September 2000
- July 2000
- March 2000
- July 1999
Category Archives: economics
The Icelandic Response to Crisis
If you’re looking for a sensible and coherent response to a major crisis, you could do a lot worse today than look to Iceland. The country’s current currency crisis happened because it’s so small. But the solution, too, is something … Continue reading
Posted in economics, foreign exchange
Comments Off on The Icelandic Response to Crisis
The Downside
The S&P 500 closed today at its lowest end-of-day level since October 2004 — lower, even, than it closed on Monday. I spent much of the afternoon talking to perennial pessimist Bill Rhodes, at Citibank, who was keeping one eye … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on The Downside
How Bad Could Things Get?
Your cheery upbeat forecast, on a day when stocks are up 3%, comes from Willem Buiter: If the markets fear that the nays have thrown their toys out of the pram for the long term, the following scenario is quite … Continue reading
McCain’s Economics
Don’t ask me who won the debate in terms of persuading formerly undecided voters to fix an allegiance. The number of undecided voters who understand the difference between financial and fiscal is minuscule, and the number of those who think … Continue reading
When it Rains, it Pours
This is really, really bad. In a nutshell: the bailout package, which everybody thought was a done deal, has been undone by some combination of Republican recalcitrance and the heat of the presidential campaign. At the same time, WaMu’s gone … Continue reading
Posted in bailouts, banking, bonds and loans, economics, Politics
Comments Off on When it Rains, it Pours
Didn’t Panic
I was right about what Bush was going to say, but I was wrong about how he said it. This was one of the best speeches of his presidency, if not the best. I was watching in a noisy bar, … Continue reading
Academic Economists vs Paulson
A very long list of economists has signed a letter critical of Hank Paulson’s bank bailout plan. I’m not a huge fan of the Paulson version of the plan myself, but the arguments given in the letter are, I think, … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on Academic Economists vs Paulson
Larry Summers, Politician
Lloyd Grove has a long interview with Larry Summers today. The political bit is the most interesting: Summers all but says he’d love to return as Treasury secretary ("I’m very happy right now doing what I’m doing, teaching and consulting … Continue reading
Trusting Uncle Sam
Arnold Kling has a cute response to my blog entry on the Social Security trust fund: A trust fund = an obligation to borrow? If your uncle Louie told you he was setting up a trust fund for you, and … Continue reading
Posted in economics, fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Trusting Uncle Sam
How to Think about the Social Security Trust Fund
If you want to start a heated debate among policy wonks, just ask them about the Social Security trust fund. A large contingent of people will tell you that it’s real government debt; another large contingent will tell you that … Continue reading
Posted in economics, fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on How to Think about the Social Security Trust Fund
In Search of Executive Economists
Richard Baldwin has forgotten his Oxford comma: I was on panel with Alan Blinder, the CEO of Boston Consulting Group and the UAE trade minister. I’m glad he did, because the vision of Blinder — or any Nobel economics laureate … Continue reading
Posted in economics, leadership
Comments Off on In Search of Executive Economists
Chart of the Day: U6
Brad DeLong sums up in two words: "Recession city". U6 is a very broad gauge of unemployment, but even so, any unemployment figure which is above 10% and rising has to be very worrisome indeed.
Posted in economics, employment
Comments Off on Chart of the Day: U6
Drilling for Revenues
Free Exchange has it right, I think, and Tyler Cowen is being needlessly self-abnegating. Drilling for US oil might well make sense as a matter of fiscal policy, especially for Alaska; it gets us nowhere fast as a an "energy … Continue reading
Posted in climate change, commodities, economics, fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Drilling for Revenues
Unemployment Passes 6%
I don’t know much about GDP, but this feels like a recession to me. The unemployment rate of 6.1% is up from just 4.9% in the first quarter of this year: that’s one torrid growth rate you don’t want to … Continue reading
Posted in economics, employment
Comments Off on Unemployment Passes 6%
Goolsbee 1-0 Salmon
Back in March 2006, Austan Goolsbee was a little-known Chicago economics professor, and I was an all-but-unknown blogger. In a fit of dudgeon, I took it upon myself to attack an article that Goolsbee wrote in Slate on the subject … Continue reading
Blurb Whore of the Day
Rachel Donadio had an entertaining essay in Sunday’s NYT Book Review on blurbing. It’s a fine art, she says: "Blurb too often, or include too many blurbs on your book, and you might get called a blurb whore." Well. I … Continue reading
The Destroyer of Swedish Capitalism
For a wonderful real-world example of Martin Wolf’s take on global capitalism, check out Niklas Magnusson’s profile of Swedish activist investor Christer Gardell. This being Sweden, Gardell isn’t only unpopular with unions and other leftists, he’s even unpopular with shareholders: … Continue reading
Posted in economics, hedge funds, investing
Comments Off on The Destroyer of Swedish Capitalism
Martin Wolf on Capitalism
Give Bill Gates, Mike Kinsley, and Conor Clark credit: if their Creative Capitalism project achieves nothing else, it has certainly brought into being one of the most interesting, diverse, and provocative group blogs on the internet. And Martin Wolf’s tour … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on Martin Wolf on Capitalism
When Savings Start to Rise
Paul Kedrosky quotes David Rosenberg today on the implications of a rising savings rate: The savings rate is going to be forced higher. This, again, is going to be very, very disinflationary. It means that fashions are going to change. … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on When Savings Start to Rise
GDP Statistics and the 2008 Election
Is it weird to link to Dean Baker three times over the course of three successive blog entries? Not when he comes out with stuff like this: It is very likely that the third quarter GDP number will be negative. … Continue reading
Posted in economics, Politics, statistics
Comments Off on GDP Statistics and the 2008 Election
Nassim Taleb and the Ubiquity of Moral Hazard
Nassim Taleb would be the first to tell you that the runaway success of his books was an utterly unpredictable black swan event. You might or might not believe him — but in his interview today with Lloyd Grove, there’s … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on Nassim Taleb and the Ubiquity of Moral Hazard
Oil Datapoints of the Day
Krishna Guha: At today’s prices the value of oil in the ground exceeds the combined value of all the world’s equity and debt markets. Oil-importing nations are paying oil-exporting nations roughly $1,500bn per annum for oil – about 2.5 per … Continue reading
Posted in commodities, economics
Comments Off on Oil Datapoints of the Day
On Risk Aversion
I’ve been thinking a bit more about the downside of risk aversion, which is something that Steve Waldman brought up yesterday and which I then applied to the ARS fiasco, among other things. The problem is that it’s entirely natural, … Continue reading
When Safety is Worse Than Risk
Steve Waldman has a corker of a blog entry today, blaming a large part of the present crisis on "investors’ childlike demand for safety". It’s a very powerful insight. Think of the enormous emerging-market central bank reserves that everyone was … Continue reading
Supply and Demand in the Oil Market
Stan Collender just doesn’t believe that the volatile oil price can really be function of old-fashioned supply and demand: It’s not that I’m not a big believer in this most basic rule of economics. It’s just that the higher prices … Continue reading
Posted in commodities, economics
Comments Off on Supply and Demand in the Oil Market