Thursday, January 31, 2008
The "Washington Consensus" doesn't apply to Washington
by Ken Houghton
My HELOC is now 151 bp below my mortgage. Time to draw down again, especially given other circumstances. But at least I know this is unsustainable in the long-term.
(Via Dani Rodrik), who pulled the most damning quote.
Ricardo Hausmann body-slams the absurd Fed actions and silly stimulus package.
Returning to a sustainable path is good for the US and the world economy over any horizon that assigns some value to what happens after 2008. Sustainable growth is not the consequence of an unsustainable consumption boom but of the progress and diffusion of science, technology and innovation – which show no sign of slowing down.
An efficient adjustment to the US over-consumption imbalance (and Chinese under-consumption) in a way that does not hurt longer-term growth should be based on compensating for the decline of US consumption with an increase in domestic investment and in consumption abroad. It should not be based on giving the US consumer more rope with which to hang himself.
My HELOC is now 151 bp below my mortgage. Time to draw down again, especially given other circumstances. But at least I know this is unsustainable in the long-term.
(Via Dani Rodrik), who pulled the most damning quote.
Labels: Dani Rodrik, Economic Development, FRBOperations, monetary policy, Politics
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Thomas Schelling on the Price of Do-Nothing
by Ken Houghton
Sir Nicholas Stern isn't the only Nobel Prize winner arguing, effectively, that Arrow-Debreu likely undervalues risk in large systems too much to make decision avoidance practical.
Labels: Dani Rodrik, Economics, environmentalism, Global Warming
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Rodrik Update
by Ken Houghton
So my comments are on hold not only because I'm spend too much time working and in doctors's offices, but also because he may have addressed the major issues.
Dani Rodrik has posted a link to the paper that went with his AEA presentation referenced here.
So my comments are on hold not only because I'm spend too much time working and in doctors's offices, but also because he may have addressed the major issues.
Labels: Dani Rodrik, Economic Development
Friday, January 04, 2008
AEA Highlights I
by Ken Houghton
More on the Rodrik presentation later.
He was sadly unsuccessful. I encourage everyone to go over to his blog and ask him to post the links. And while you're there, read this post, which dovetails nicely with that presentation. UPDATE: Dani Rodrik has posted those links, and summarized his presentation here.
UPDATE 2:Felix Salmon piles on, as it were, adding a clip via Infectious Greed to the mix.
Ignoring that our luggage was lost and my IRS interview tonight may have to be done in tennis shoes and two-days-worn clothing...
- Ed Glaeser (having presented what seems to have been a fascinating paper) responding to the question "Why didn't you include the current Iraq war in your discussion?" by noting that he stopped with Vietnam because "we have the LBJ tapes as evidence." And noting the point to which many of us return: It's possible that this entire cf is because GWB believes Saddam Hussein really did try to kill his father.
- Dani Rodrik (following a presentation by William Easterly) by declaring that his presentation should be though of as "Easterly on Prozac"—and then proving it by attempting to embed YouTube clips into his presentation.*
More on the Rodrik presentation later.
He was sadly unsuccessful. I encourage everyone to go over to his blog and ask him to post the links. And while you're there, read this post, which dovetails nicely with that presentation. UPDATE: Dani Rodrik has posted those links, and summarized his presentation here.
UPDATE 2:Felix Salmon piles on, as it were, adding a clip via Infectious Greed to the mix.
Labels: Dani Rodrik, Economic Development, Economics, Iraq, PortfolioMarketMovers
