Category Archives: Economics

Terminal Velocity (9) – “Helicopter Take-off”

Written by Adam Whitehead, KeySignals.com From Terminal Velocity (3) – “The Pyramid Scheme”[i]: Reading between the lines, it is clear that the Fed intends to maintain a large balance sheet of assets for some time; even after interest rates have … Continue reading

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Japan: Exporting Deflation

by John Mauldin, Thoughts from the Frontline The evils of this deluge of paper money are not to be removed until our citizens are generally and radically instructed in their cause and consequences, and silence by their authority the interested … Continue reading

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Economic Zeitgeist

The Ideology to End Ideologies – A Response to Corey Robin on Nietzsche, Hayek, Mises, and Marginalism by Philip Pilkington This article was first published by Naked Capitalism (May 13, 2013) Editor’s Note: Econintersect considers this a fundamentally important discussion … Continue reading

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Self-defeating Austerity Shocks

by Reda Cherif and Fuad Hasanov, Voxeu.org This article was originally published by Voxeu.org (May 3, 2013) Europe’s austerity-first approach has triggered research-based efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of debt-reduction strategies. This column, based on a US empirical study, suggests … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Stay Right on Trend but Economists Get It Wrong Again

by Lee Adler, Wall Street Examiner Retail sales grew modestly and on trend in April. There was no evidence of either a slowing economy or one that is overheating and about to cause conventional inflation measures to move higher. At … Continue reading

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Investment and Consumption

by Michael Pettis, China Financial Markets I have been arguing for several years that once China begins the adjustment process, which I expect to characterize the ten-year period of the current administration, growth rates must slow significantly. My expectation for long-term growth … Continue reading

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Austerity and Growth Perspectives: Europe, the IMF, China, and the US

Written by Elliott Morss, Morss Global Finance Introduction Over the last two decades, the trade-offs between more rapid economic growth and the need for governments to keep their financial houses in order has been a topic of worldwide debate. Controversy … Continue reading

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Savings and Investment: Sorting Out Confusion Over Definitions

A Bit More on Savings and Investment by Steve Randy Waldman, Interfluidity.com Steve Roth (1, 2), Scott Sumner (1, 2, 3), Bill Woolsey, and Matt Yglesias have been debating questions of saving versus investment and paradoxen of thrift. See also … Continue reading

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Public Debt and Economic Growth, One More Time

by Ugo Panizza and Andrea F Presbitero This post was originally published by Voxeu.org The very public Rogoff-Reinhart kerfuffle has focused on what is not true. This column reviews the evidence on what is true. It suggests that the debt-growth … Continue reading

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Everyone’s Missing the Bigger Picture in the Reinhart-Rogoff Debate

by Washington’s Blog, Washington’s Blog The “Excel Spreadsheet Error” in Context You’ve heard that an incredibly influential economic paper by Reinhart and Rogoff (RR) – widely used to justify austerity – has been “busted” for “excel spreadsheet errors” and other … Continue reading

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Feedback Loops, Delusions and Crises

by Michael Pettis, China Financial Markets Early this month Martin Wolf had another of his very interesting articles, this time on China, which I think suggests some of the concerns we must have about the upcoming adjustment. Wolf argues that it … Continue reading

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Terminal Velocity (6) Update – “Flying Blind, On Fumes, With No Pilot”

Written by Adam Whitehead, KeySignals.com In Terminal Velocity (4)[i], the possibility and conditions precedent for the “Helicopter” to land at Jackson Hole were discussed. The specific landing conditions were identified in Terminal Velocity (5). These conditions were observed as a … Continue reading

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Which Comes First: Good Governance or Development?

by Edvin Arnby Machata This article was originally published by Institute for Advanced Development Studies with spelling of the author’s name corrected in this update. The international development community has for almost two decades focused on improving governance as a … Continue reading

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Making The Case Against Austerity

by Stephanie Kelton This article was originally published in New Economic Perspectives Neil Irwin at Wonkblog has a new post up:  The Deficit is Falling Fast. Can Washington Accept Victory? He quotes John Makin of the American Enterprise Institute, who says, … Continue reading

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Is the Federal Reserve Breeding the Next Financial Crisis?

by Ambrogio Cesa-Bianchi and Alessandro Rebucci This article was originally published in Voxeu.org Many economists think that the US Federal Reserve’s loose monetary stance in the 2000′s fueled the US housing bubble. Is the Fed thus responsible for the Global … Continue reading

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Hume on Microfoundations of Macroeconomics

by Dirk Ehnts, Econoblog101 So-called micro-foundations of macroeconomic models means that agents in the model always use some sort of optimization given the state of variables in the economy. A case in point is the consumption function. Keynesian normally say … Continue reading

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Why Doesn’t IMF Track Inflation for the Eurozone?

IMF Says Inflation Likely to Remain Stable – What About the Eurozone? by Dirk Ehnts, Econoblog101 The latest IMF Survey has this to say: Inflation barely budged during Great Recession despite rising unemployment Independent central banks reduce risk that policies … Continue reading

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Comparing Unemployment During the Great Depression and the Great Recession

by William K. Black, New Economic Perspectives Barry Eichengreen’s and Tim Hatton’s January 1988 paper entitled “Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective” is a useful starting point for any effort to compare unemployment during the Great Depression and the Great Recession. … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Rebound in March after Weak January-February

by Lee Adler, Wall Street Examiner The headlines and mainstream media stories on retail sales were hysterical and misleading as usual, thanks again to screwy, fictitious seasonally adjusted data.  “Retail Sales in U.S. Dropped in March by Most in Nine … Continue reading

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Inequality – Both Economic and In Access to Liberty and Justice – Skyrockets to Historic Levels

by Washington’s Blog, Washington’s Blog Poverty Spikes In America … While the Government Throws Money at the Super-Elite AP reports that the U.S. is seeing the highest spike in poverty since the 1960s, and notes: According to a report by … Continue reading

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