Most successful middle school dropouts aren’t like Jennifer Lawrence
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Monetary Policy and Financial Markets - Recent Developments
US Monetary Policy – Future Direction
Debate surrounding Federal Reserve’s inflation target
Stock Market Fundamentals
The Myth of Sound Fundamentals
The Market Dogs That Didn’t Bark
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/price-correction-limited-to-equities-by-anatole-kaletsky-2018-02
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/price-correction-limited-to-equities-by-anatole-kaletsky-2018-02
Monday, February 26, 2018
California - High Cost of Living
Justin Fox on the high cost of housing in California:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-26/rent-in-california-is-even-higher-than-you-thought
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-26/rent-in-california-is-even-higher-than-you-thought
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Sunday Readings
Profile of Germany’s controversial celebrity philosopher -
Peter Sloterdijk
“In premodern
societies, he argues, vengeance and blood feuds provided ample outlet for these
impulses. Later, loyalty to the nation-state performed a similar function, and
international Communism managed to direct class rage into utopian projects. But
modern capitalism presents a particular problem. “Ever more irritated and
isolated individuals find themselves surrounded by impossible offers,” he
writes, and, out of this frustrated desire, “an impulse to hate everything
emerges.”
The Collapse of Venezuela
Guns and Opioids Are American Scourges Fueled by
Availability by SAM QUINONES
“The United States is in the midst of at least two
plagues with much in common.
One is gun-fueled mass murder; the other is addiction
to opioids — pain pills, heroin, fentanyl.
Both are uniquely American afflictions, killing in
alarming numbers. Both are revved in part by commercial interests and in part
by the collapse of community in American culture. Both persist because of the
erroneous belief that there’s an easy answer to these complicated problems.
Above all, both are about supply”.
Above all, both are about supply”.
Russia and the
West
In the battle for a deeply divided Britain,
universities are now the front line
State and Local Economic Incentives - Good Idea?
Related:
Promising Billions to Amazon: Is It a Good Deal for
Cities
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Is Denmark Special?
Megan McArdle considers the Danish
model:
“… Denmark has
solved its pension problem, keeping budgets in balance, generously pre-funding
private retirement accounts, and linking retirement ages to rising lifespans.
After 15 years of watching every other country fail to address the coming
demographic bulge, it’s hard not to think that if the Danes can do that, they
can do anything.
So, sorry,
conservatives: Denmark really does combine high wages with high employment,
high taxes with prosperity, fiscal responsibility with high levels of
government spending. No wonder leftists ask if policymakers couldn’t do something
like that in the U.S.
But also … sorry, leftists. After a week in Copenhagen, the conclusion I came to is that no, they probably can’t. Not because the Danish model doesn’t work, but because it’s so very, very Danish.”
But also … sorry, leftists. After a week in Copenhagen, the conclusion I came to is that no, they probably can’t. Not because the Danish model doesn’t work, but because it’s so very, very Danish.”
Just one minor quibble about the facts stated in the
above article:
Norway is now ranked as the happiest country in the world (Denmark is second)
Norway is now ranked as the happiest country in the world (Denmark is second)
http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/
--
--
Norway’s Strange Attitude towards Success:
NYTIMES piece highlights:
“They want their
athletes to destroy everyone in their favorite sport, but the sport could be
destroyed unless other countries win.
A similar tension is
built into Norway’s fortune, which comes from vast oil reserves and has turned
the nation’s sovereign wealth fund into the largest in the world. Norwegians
are green to the core, and when it comes to their own energy needs, they are
huge fans of the clean, renewable variety. They also pocket billions from
fossil fuels.
A surfeit of gold and oil — bigger problems have plagued nations. But Norway is not going to stop drilling, and it certainly won’t handicap its cross-country athletes.”
A surfeit of gold and oil — bigger problems have plagued nations. But Norway is not going to stop drilling, and it certainly won’t handicap its cross-country athletes.”
Planet Money on the Productivity Paradox
Planet Money on Robert Gordon’s Rise and Fall of American Growth
International Economic Development
The Palm Oil Problem – Natural Resources
and Economic Development
Public Shaming and Even Prison for Plastic Bag Use in Rwanda
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/28/world/africa/rwanda-plastic-bags-banned.html
Germany Exports Employment Offices to Africa
Leading Development Economist Debraj Ray on Uneven Growth
Friday, February 23, 2018
An Optimist's View of the World
A Critique of Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now
Thursday, February 22, 2018
US Economic Conditions - Latest Update
Economic Conditions and Key Challenges Facing the U.S.
Economy
https://www.dallasfed.org/-/media/Documents/news/speeches/kaplan/2018/rsk180221.pdf
https://www.dallasfed.org/-/media/Documents/news/speeches/kaplan/2018/rsk180221.pdf
The American Dream
The American Dream and Social Mobility in the Real World
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/social-mobility-american-and-european-views-by-stefanie-stantcheva-2018-02
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/social-mobility-american-and-european-views-by-stefanie-stantcheva-2018-02
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Singapore - The 'Nudge State'
Singapore's Unique Policy Approach
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180220-the-nation-that-thrived-by-nudging-its-population
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180220-the-nation-that-thrived-by-nudging-its-population
What Makes Singapore’s Health Care So Cheap?
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/upshot/what-makes-singapores-health-care-so-cheap.html
Economic and Political Developments in Africa
Morocco's Bold Solar Project
Wakanda's Prosperity Isn't So Far-Fetched for Africa
Wakanda's Prosperity Isn't So Far-Fetched for Africa
Africa’s Fallen Liberators
Three Keys to a New South Africa
The Economist on the challenges facing Congo
https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21737021-president-joseph-kabila-seventh-year-five-year-term-he-struggling-holdTuesday, February 20, 2018
Monday, February 19, 2018
Gen X versus Millennials
Millennials are worse off on average than
the generation born between 1966 and 1980
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-19/boom-turns-to-bust-for-millennials-across-advanced-economiesChina's Growing Assertiveness - International Complications
Australia, New Zealand Face China’s Influence
China and Australia – Increasingly Complicated Relationship
Waking up to China’s infiltration of American colleges
How Chinese overseas students are learning harsh life
lessons
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2131738/how-chinese-overseas-students-are-learning-harsh
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2131738/how-chinese-overseas-students-are-learning-harsh
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Potential GDP, Full-Employment Level and an Overheated Economy
The Economy Is Soaring, And Now So Is The Deficit.
That’s A Bad Combination.
Budget leaves us
no leg to stand on when bubbles burst
Is the US Economy
Running Hot?
Related:
https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/1-31-18econ.pdfResource Curse – Resource Endowment and Conflicts
Interesting new research –
Resources, Conflict, and Economic
Development in Africa
Abstract:
Natural resources
have driven both growth and conflict in modern Africa. We model the interaction
of parties engaged in potential conflict over such resources. The likelihood of
conflict depends on both the absolute and relative resource endowments of the
parties. Resources fuel conflict by raising the gains from expropriation and by
increasing fighting strength. Economic prosperity, as a result, is a function
of equilibrium conflict prevalence determined not just by a region's own
resources but also by the resources of its neighbors. Using high-resolution
spatial data on resources, conflicts, and nighttime illumination across the
whole of sub-Saharan Africa, we find evidence confirming each of the model's
predictions. Structural estimates of the model reveal that conflict equilibria
are more prevalent where institutional quality (measured by, e.g., risk of
expropriation, property rights, voice and accountability) is worse.--
The Economist on the challenges facing Congo
https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21737021-president-joseph-kabila-seventh-year-five-year-term-he-struggling-hold
Friday, February 16, 2018
Immigration Systems - International Comparison
Immigration Systems - Cross-Country Comparison
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/16/upshot/comparing-immigration-policies-across-countries.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/16/upshot/comparing-immigration-policies-across-countries.html
Thursday, February 15, 2018
How Fast Can the US Economy Grow?
The Disappointing Recovery in U.S. Output
after 2009
https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2018/february/disappointing-us-output-recovery-after-2009/el2018-04.pdf
My own perspective:
http://www.ut.edu/uploadedFiles/Academics/Business/Centers_and_Insititutes/Tampa%20Bay%20Economy%20Winter%202017.pdfChinese Tech – World Class Yet?
How does Chinese
tech stack up against American tech?
https://www.economist.com/news/business/21737075-silicon-valley-may-not-hold-its-global-superiority-much-longer-how-does-chinese-techDealing with Rising Inequality - Political Challenges
Why Is It So Hard for Democracy to Deal With Inequality
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/opinion/democracy-inequality-thomas-piketty.html
Example of Rent-Seeking Behavior
The Double Threat to Liberal Democracy
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/double-threat-to-liberal-democracy-by-dani-rodrik-2018-02Example of Rent-Seeking Behavior
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Profits, Stock Prices and the Real Economy
Big Profits Drove a
Stock Boom. Did the Economy Pay a Price?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/business/economy/profits-economy.html
We All Have a Stake in the Stock Market, Right? Guess Again
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/business/economy/stocks-economy.htmlRelated:
Where Are the Start-Ups? Loss of Dynamism Is Impeding Growth
Simplifying the Tax Code
Simplifying the Tax Code – A Difficult Task
http://review.chicagobooth.edu/public-policy/2018/article/why-it-s-so-hard-simplify-tax-code
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
California’s Economic Boom – Will it Last?
Boom and Gloom: An Economic Warning for
California
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/business/economy/california-recession.htmlMonday, February 12, 2018
Loose Fiscal Policy – Risks to US Economy
The End of Free Money for the U.S.
Government
America’s extraordinary economic gamble
What will result from America’s strangely timed
fiscal stimulus?
Related:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/upshot/the-era-of-fiscal-austerity-is-over-heres-what-big-deficits-mean-for-the-economy.htmlSlow Pace of Automation
Lessons from a Slow-Motion Robot Takeover
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-09/lessons-from-a-slow-motion-robot-takeoverEmerging Markets – Interesting Items
The Future of Economic Convergence
India’s Path from Crony Socialism to
Stigmatized Capitalism
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/india-cronyism-to-capitalism-by-arvind-subramanian-2018-02
Cash substitutes emerge in India
https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2018-02-13/zuckerberg-s-start-small-dream-big-indian-payments-betSaturday, February 10, 2018
Paper Jams and the Limits of Technology
Another fascinating piece from the New Yorker: Why Paper Jams Persist
Joshua Rothman notes:
“Jams emerge from an elemental struggle between the natural
and the mechanical. “Paper isn’t manufactured—it’s processed,” Warner said, as
we ambled among the copiers in a vast Xerox showroom with Ruiz and a few other
engineers. “It comes from living things—trees—which are unique, just like
people are unique.” In Spain, paper is made from eucalyptus; in Kentucky, from
Southern pine; in the Northwest, from Douglas fir. To transform these trees
into copy paper, you must first turn them into wood chips, which are then
mashed into pulp. The pulp is bleached, and run through screens and chemical
processes that remove biological gunk until only water and wood fibre remain.
In building-size paper mills, the fibre is sprayed onto rollers turning
thirty-five miles per hour, which press it into fat cylinders of paper forty
reams wide. It doesn’t take much to reverse this process. When paper gets too
wet, it liquefies; when it gets too dry, it crumbles to dust….Stabilizing South Asia
Pakistan’s Dangerous Games
How Can America Change Pakistani Behavior?
Related:
http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2017/08/afghanistan-and-south-asian-strategic.htmlRetail Sector – A Mall for the Super Rich
This Mall Is Only for the Rich, and It’s
Doing Fine
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-02-08/this-mall-is-only-for-the-rich-and-it-s-doing-fineFriday, February 9, 2018
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Inflation Expectations and the Stock Market
The Stock Market Is Worried About Inflation.
Should It Be?
The Era of Easy Money Is Ending, and the
World Is Bracing for Shocks
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/business/stocks-bonds-markets-central-banks.html
UPDATES:
Understanding Inflation:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/14/business/economy/inflation-prices.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/14/business/economy/inflation-prices.html
Inflation and the Stock Market
https://theconversation.com/why-does-inflation-make-stock-prices-fall-91874Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Rising Inequality - Causes and Consequences
Interesting piece:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/06/how-rising-inequality-hurts-everyone-even-the-rich/
Nobel Prize winning economist Angus Deaton on Economic Inequality in the US
https://promarket.org/angus-deaton-discussed-driver-inequality-america-easier-rent-seekers-affect-policy-much-europe/Monday, February 5, 2018
The Long-Awaited Stock Market Correction
A Violent Correction in the Equity Market
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-05/bad-day-turns-terrifying-as-dow-suffers-worst-point-plunge-ever
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-05/bad-day-turns-terrifying-as-dow-suffers-worst-point-plunge-ever
Update:
Return of Market
Volatility
Politics and the Stock Market
The stock market dive might actually mean
good news for the economy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-stock-market-dive-might-actually-mean-good-news-for-the-economy/2018/02/05/e4a92664-0a75-11e8-8890-372e2047c935_story.html
Related:
http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2017/10/stock-market-and-cryptocurrency-bubbles.htmlFuture of Healthcare
The Economist
on the future of healthcare
Healthcare System Comparison – US versus UK
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/05/americans-uk-health-system-trump-nhsSunday, February 4, 2018
Equity Markets - Significance of Overnight Trades
The Stock Market Works by Day, but It Loves
the Night
NYT piece notes:
“The daytime is for
losers. Overnight is when the big money is made in the stock market — not by
trading but by getting a good night’s sleep.
That’s because of a
gap between daytime and overnight returns in the American stock market. The
real profits for investors have come when the market is closed for regular
trading, according to a new stock market analysis by Bespoke Investment Group.”
Wisconsin's Fiscal Policy Choices
Bloomberg’s Noah Smith notes:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-02/how-wisconsin-can-escape-the-middle-of-the-pack
“In order for states to attract new businesses, it’s usually not enough to simply remove barriers -- businesses have to have a reason to choose a state in the first place.”
“In order for states to attract new businesses, it’s usually not enough to simply remove barriers -- businesses have to have a reason to choose a state in the first place.”
Chinese Students Studying at Western Universities - Complicated Feelings on Both Sides
How Chinese overseas students are learning harsh life lessons
Saturday, February 3, 2018
China and the Future of Electric Vehicle Industry
Will China become the dominant player in the EV space?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-02-01/the-breakneck-rise-of-china-s-colossus-of-electric-car-batteries
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-02-01/the-breakneck-rise-of-china-s-colossus-of-electric-car-batteries
Belichick the Economist
Could Bill Belichick’s grasp of economics be
the key to the Patriots’ success?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/could-bill-belichicks-grasp-on-economics-be-the-key-to-the-patriots-successGood News, Bad News and the Economy
Interesting piece from George Will: The good economic news is
actually bad. Here’s why.
“All news is
economic news, because everything affects the economy, or reveals attitudes or
behaviors that soon will affect it. And all economic news is bad — especially
good economic news, because it gives rise to bad behavior.”
US Wage Growth Dynamics
Interesting piece on trends in US wage growth:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/01/business/economy/wages-salaries-job-market.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/01/business/economy/wages-salaries-job-market.html
Related:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/02/do-not-fear-wage-growth-embrace-it/
Friday, February 2, 2018
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)