Category Archives: Economics

Shields and Brooks on QE

I always enjoy watching the regular commentary segment with Mark Shields and David Brooks on PBS Newshour on Fridays (though I find David Brooks to be the more interesting by far). This week I was struck by comments that both … Continue reading

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NZ Business and Employment Statistics

Last week the NZ Statistics Department released the “NZ Business Demography Statistics: At February 2010.” The data was reported by Newstalk ZB, who also had their story published by the NZ Herald. The business demography statistics are primarily concerned with … Continue reading

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Latest NZ Trade Data

[Last updated 10/31: After re-reading the original version of this post and checking the data from the Statistics Department again, I realized I had misinterpreted a couple of numbers in the Herald article – which I guess illustrates why I … Continue reading

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Why Banks Aren’t Lending

Well it’s been a couple of weeks since my last blog entry, mainly because I’ve been spending time with some of my family who were visiting from NZ. It was great to have them here, but now that they’re gone … Continue reading

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Brookings on Controlling the Deficit

The Brookings Institution released a paper today (ok it’s now after midnight – I guess it was yesterday) titled The Future is Now: A Balanced Plan to Stabilize Public Debt and Promote Economic Growth, by William Galston and Maya MacGuineas. … Continue reading

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The Republicans’ ‘Pledge to America’

A preview of the Republican’s new Pledge to America has been released to news organizations today and will reportedly be launched formally tomorrow. I’ve taken a fairly quick look through it, mostly the parts that relate to the economy, and … Continue reading

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The US is Bankrupt – Kotlikoff

Bloomberg ran an article last month in which Boston University economics professor Laurence Kotlikoff makes what appears to be a hugely important argument. In his words, the US is bankrupt. To be perhaps a little more literal but no less … Continue reading

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Why You Shouldn’t Blindly Trust Experts

If you’ve read my “About Me” page linked over on the right hand side, you might recall me writing this – …I am wholly unimpressed by those who try to dismiss others’ views simply on the basis of a supposed … Continue reading

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More on Payroll Tax from Roubini

Nouriel Roubini followed up the comments at Zeitgeist that I referred to on Thursday with an article yesterday in the Washington Post, again advocating a temporary (two year) cut in payroll tax. Part of his argument is that some of … Continue reading

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Increasing the Current Account Deficit Will Not Heal the US Economy

Christopher Rugaber of AP had an article published in a number of outlets yesterday noting that some economic indicators seem to have stabilized in the past month and deflation seems to be less of a danger. However, what caught my … Continue reading

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