Economists, and Their Comical Search For a Higher ‘Inflation Target’
To say that Harvard’s Jason Furman believes mass unemployment and bankruptcy is the answer to inflation is a waste of words.
Articles
‘Low-Birthrate’ Pessimism Will Soon Embarrass the Pessimists
The birthrate alarmism that has infected the various economic religions won’t age well. Nothing against procreation, but lower birthrates don’t in any way signal country decline.
The Russians Have Stolen Our ‘Whip Inflation Now’ Buttons
The story on Russia these days is that the economy is booming, with inflation breaking out as a consequence of all the government spending that is said to be stimulating the economy.
Biden’s Chinese Investment Crackdown Vandalizes Foreign and Economic Policy
President Biden’s recent move to ban U.S. investment in “sensitive” Chinese companies will not work. As is, U.S. investment funds all sorts of Chinese innovations despite all manner of rules in China that dis-allow foreign investment. Capital moves faster than government, obviously. Assuming Biden could ban U.S. investment into China, what a shame. When it comes to innovative companies, they generally get to choose their investors.
Mark-to-Market is Not as Simple For Banks as is Assumed
Cato Institute co-founder Ed Crane and I have been discussing mark-to-market accounting for banks in the aftermath of SVB’s troubles. Crane is not seeking force on the matter, but does think mark-to-market would render bank balance sheets credible where they’re presently not. My response is that regardless of what banks do, investors strive to mark to market.
About the Future of AI, Dismiss the Pessimistic Creators of It
What machines and automated minds can do for us doesn’t replace us as much as it frees us to pursue all manner of new advances.
The Unbearable Nothingness of Yield Curve Inversion
The simple truth is that if the Fed were as powerful as the various religions want it to be, the U.S. economy would always be in decline. Yield-curve obsession is powerful on the score of nothingness.
Michael Parkinson’s Father Promised To Beat Him If He Showed Up at the Mines
Parkinson was spared becoming a 3rd generation miner by progress, which is what global trade embodies.
Country of Contrasts: A Review of Michael Reid’s ‘Spain’
The late Jude Wanniski once observed about Spain that its headline rate of unemployment had little to do with actual unemployment. Wanniski’s point was that the 20% official rate was merely a sign of Spaniards aggressively hiding their work from tax collectors. Wanniski’s analysis from decades ago was hard to forget while reading Michael …
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The Superfluous Conceit of Mandatory Bank ‘Stress Tests’
In the technology sector, poorly-run businesses don’t last long. They fail quickly only for their assets to be acquired by better stewards. The paradoxical truth is that the technology sector gains strength from periods of weakness. It’s something to think about with banking top of mind. Failure in banking has become a dirty …
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