Globalization and the Trumpaline
A trampoline is a thing you jump on. If you get really good at it you can do flips and all sorts of amazing gymnastic maneuvers. Right now everyone is jumping on Donald Trump so I thought I would jump...
View ArticleThe Services Growth Engine
I often hear people lament the decline of real production and wealth as our nation has evolved from agriculture and mining to things like manufacturing and then finally services. To these people there...
View ArticleLesson 12 Balance of Payments: 2015 Data is in or is it?
As my loyal followers might recall, some of my posts are a tad more educational than others. Those of you who have degrees in silly things like fine arts and biology often appreciate my patient and...
View ArticleGlobal Interest Rates Turn More Negative by Guest Blogger Buck Klemkosky
For centuries, the bedrock assumption of finance was that borrowers paid interest and lenders and investors received interest, and that nominal interest rates would always be positive. That assumption...
View ArticleThe Fed Wishes You a Happy April Fool's Day
I don’t usually write short punchy things for my blog but I just couldn’t help myself yesterday after I read the paper and noticed that Mrs Yellen was being lauded for her recent remarks in which she...
View ArticleCash: It's Just as Good as Money by Guest Blogger Buck Klemkosky
What Yogi Berra said is only partially true. In fact cash and money are not the same thing. There is a lot more money in the world and the U.S. than cash. Currency is another name for cash and in the...
View ArticleUnfair Competition with Exchange Rates
On September 15, 2015 I wrote about exchange rates and said they were wild and crazy, like Steve Martin. I looked back over my previous posts and I have quite a few aimed at exchange rates and exchange...
View ArticleThe Minimum Wage: Science versus Ideology
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could throw a bag full of stuff into the air and it would stay there, suspended in the air. It would be cool and it could probably help a lot of people. But science says...
View ArticleGuest Blogger Buck Klemkosky Slow and Steady Job Growth Not Enough
The U.S. Labor Department announced job growth of 215,000 for March in line with expectations. Given a working-age population of over 200 million, it doesn’t seem to be a significant number of jobs....
View ArticleJack Daniels Fishing Story
A little fun today. You know I have a proclivity towards Jack Daniels. So I thought I would share this JD Fishing Story sent to me by friend Jim C. The Jack Daniels Fishing StoryI finally got around to...
View ArticleFrom Each According to his Ability to Each according to his Needs
Though it stems from former socialist writers, the statement in today’s title has been widely attributed to another famous socialist Karl Marx. A broader statement would include these three points...
View ArticleMacro and the Perfect Storm
I am currently teaching two macro courses at the University of Washington in Seattle. I get free purple rain wear and as much Starbucks coffee as I can drink. It’s a nice deal. I can harass MBA...
View ArticleSummers Misleads with Secular Stagnation Tilt
Larry Summers recently peered into his cob-webbed trunk of worn out economic ideas and found something that was discarded with Dad’s WWII army uniform – the concept of SS. For those of you unfamiliar...
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Fed Policy, Red Bull, and Buddha
Will the Fed raise interest rates? Will I gain one pound after eating the giant pork chop at Le Petit Cochon? Answer: Who cares? Apparently the market seems to care more about interest rates than my...
View ArticleWhen Aggregate Demand Policy Isn't Enough
Charlie’s motor scooter wouldn’t start. He checked the spark plug and it was okay. He checked the fuel line and it was in place. He even checked tire pressure. Exasperated he went inside to watch...
View ArticlePadded Bras, Idiotologies, and Government Regulation
After my last diatribe about supply-side economics a business friend of mine gently reminded me that I left out the impact of government regulation. So immediately I decided to write something about...
View ArticleBetter Than a Stick in the Eye
“Better than a stick in the eye” means an outcome is not very good but it is better than getting something much worse. No one wants to get a stick in the eye. Logic dictates that we try to do better...
View ArticleProcrastination
Larry, would you please take out the trash? Sure honey, I will as soon as I’m finished writing this blog. I noticed the trash is still there and the truck will be here in the morning. No probs babe, I...
View ArticleWhat Else? Brexit
Everyone is talking about Brexit. It reminds me of the conversation I overheard after the NBA Championship. One person remarked about how he was very sure that the Cavaliers would win despite being...
View ArticleFiscal Rock and Hard Place
The rock and the hard place has finally arrived. For those of you not familiar with this terminology, when you are between a rock and a hard place there are no easy or good options to solve your...
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