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Why Doves Are Really Hawks

posted to Employment, Interest, and Money on Wed 13th Feb 13

Machismo is a type of commitment mechanism. If youre a perfectly rational nerd, people will always expect you to do the rational thing. You wont be able to make credible threats unless it would be rational to carry out the threat. And it seldom
Inflation vs. Price Level Targeting

posted to Employment, Interest, and Money on Wed 9th Jan 13

I dont have time for a real blog post, but heres a quickie in an attempt to keep this blog alive.Dave Altig and Mike Bryan of the Atlanta Feds Macroblog argue here that it wouldnt make much difference if the Fed were doing price level targeting (in which the
James Medoff, Stagflation, the Phillips Curve, and the Greenspan Boom

posted to Employment, Interest, and Money on Sun 23rd Sep 12

James Medoff, my thesis advisor in graduate school and later my collaborator and business associate, died on Saturday, September 15 after a long struggle with multiple sclerosis. In the field, he was probably best known for his work on labor market institutions,

Do Umbrellas Cause Rain?

posted to Employment, Interest, and Money on Tue 24th Aug 10

In a recent speech Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota argues that low interest rates could ultimately be dangerous in that they could lead to deflation. His argument seems bizarre to me. Ill go through it piece by piece.The fed funds rate is roughly
The Mankiw Rule with Quantitative Easing: Why is the Fed So Tight?

posted to Employment, Interest, and Money on Thu 10th Jun 10

In my last post, I suggested that the Fed at least if it behaves in a reasonable manner consistent with its past practices is not likely to raise its federal funds rate target any time soon. I argued that the Mankiw Rule (a.k.a. Greg Mankiws version of the
The Treasurys Monetary Policy

posted to Employment, Interest, and Money on Wed 16th Dec 09

For decades, many economists have argued that the effectiveness of fiscal policy is limited because public borrowing crowds out private investment. There are several versions of the crowding out story. One version goes something like this: There is a certain

10 Thursday PM Reads

posted to The Big Picture on Thu 14th Feb 13

My afternoon train reading: Your Brain in Love (Scientific American) Big Wall Street Buyouts Might Be a Bullish Sign (The Slant) Less-Trusting Millennial Investors Pose Challenge to Advisors (Advisor One) The Biggest Financial Asset in Your Portfolio Is You
Links for 02-14-2013

posted to Economist's View on Thu 14th Feb 13

Prices of gasoline and crude oil - EconbrowserWhy Doves Are Really Hawks - Andy HarlessJapanese Economy Contracts and Remains in Recession - NYTThe technical competence of economic policymakers - Vox EUWelfare Costs of Shifting Trend Inflation - FRB Working
Links for 01-10-2013

posted to Economist's View on Thu 10th Jan 13

The Myth of 'Jobless Recoveries' - EconbrowserBarbarous Relics - Paul KrugmanJSTOR Cracks the Door - Monkey CageInflation vs. Price Level Targeting - Andy HarlessThe Bank of Canada's success and failure - Nick RoweAn Escape Hatch for the Debt Ceiling - NYTimes.comThe