The Economist: Free exchange
-
When not to save
When you're homeless, for one I RECENTLY descended into the economic trenches and taught financial literacy to homeless single mothers. I kept a diary of my experience which, in the interest of anonymous self-promotion, I recommend you take a look at this week. In ...
-
Desperate times, etc.
Can we print our way to recovery? KENNETH ROGOFF suggests we rev up the printing presses:It is time for the worlds major central banks to acknowledge that a sudden burst of moderate inflation would be extremely helpful in unwinding todays epic debt morass. Yes, in ...
-
Insidious MBAs
What is business school good for? THE reaction of many budding financiers and consultants when faced with an economic downturn is to pack it in and go to business school. Business school applications soar in number during recessions. A lively debate between Andy L ...
-
But how to get the Chinese shopping?
First, keep them working LETs add one more idea to the discuss of Chinese exchange rates below. Brad Setser quotes Martin Wolf, who writes:Countries with large external surpluses import demand from the rest of the world. In a deep recession, this is a “begga ...
-
Off target
Don't blame the economists for aimless policy WRITING at the Wall Street Journal today, Oliver Hart and Luigi Zingales swing, and miss:This year will be remembered not just for one of the worst financial crises in American history, but also as the moment when econ ...
-
This is getting old
More bad news, this time from services THE Institute for Supply Managements index of service sector activity only goes back to 1997, so a "new record" is of questionable import. But still:U.S. service industries contracted in November at the fastest pace ...
-
Time for an adjustment?
A cheap RMB might not impair global adjustments LET me just add something to the last post, by my colleague in Beijing. In a recent VoxEU post, Menzie Chinn Shang-Jin Wei take on the following claim, from the G20 communiqué produced at the recent summit:We ...
-
Currency stimulus
China seeks a weaker RMB to help its economy THE recent move by Chinas policymakers to weaken the RMB, to the tune of 500 basis points (bps), against the greenback, was massive considering how stability has always been the first priority when it comes to exchange ...
-
Failure does not come cheap
A defence of obscene corporate compensation THREE hundred million dollars seems like a lot to pay someone to bankrupt a company. Its no wonder taxpayers are outraged at the level of executive pay and high salaries in general in finance. Felix Salmon has had enough ...
-
General Motors sells six cars in November
Soon, it will be General Motor BUT every single manufacturer suffered during the month:GM, the largest U.S. automaker, said sales dropped 41 percent, while No. 2 Ford was down by 31 percent. Toyota, Asia’s biggest automaker, posted a 34 percent decline and H ...
-
Denial is a river in Germany
Stubborn Germany officials may worsen pain GERMANS are reputed to be pragmatic realists; they do not hesitate to bluntly speak the most painful truths. For the moment, however, things dont look quite as painful in Germany as they do elsewhere. Judging by the behav ...
-
Stimulus stew
Congress takes on fiscal policy JUST what are Democrats cooking up? A nice big winter stimulus package, which they hope to have on the presidents desk the moment he arrives:The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, has said he expects a cost of $ ...
-
Demands for suppliers
Strange dealings in Detroit ONE other thing on the New Republic piece mentioned in the post below. I would love to see an explanation for this:U.S. automakers have enormous bargaining leverage with their suppliers, because of their size. They use that leverage to ...
-
A hybrid bankruptcy for the carmakers?
A plain old bail-out might be better EXECUTIVES from the Big Three are in Washington today, submitting their plans and hoping lawmakers are in a cheque-cutting mood. The first question legislators will have to answer for themselves is whether the carmakers are too ...
-
How to profit from deflation
Ninety-year old war debt looking attractive THE current, er, challenging investment environment is generating some novel strategies among fund managers. And by novel, I mean Edwardian:Hugh Hendry, who oversees about $500 million as co-founder of Eclectica Asset Ma ...
-
Feel better?
A plea for executive branch silence PRESIDENT BUSH is "sorry" that America is in a recession. Thanks, buddy! He also says:Obviously I dont like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people g ...
-
Charge it
Fed credit card support is all about entrepreneurs BACK in October, my colleague in Los Angeles wrote, apropos of the governments puchase of a stake in Capital One:Given the importance of small and medium-sized businesses to job creation and productivity, successf ...
-
Selling point
The day that was Black Friday A RATHER absurd American tradition turned tragic this year, as so-called Black Friday shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Long Island, New York, trampled a worker to death while rushing into the store. Elsewhere, consumers slept outdoors in ord ...
-
It's official
But how long will the recession last? THE National Bureau of Economic Research says the American economy is in recession. No surprise there. And when did the recession begin? In December of 2007, according to the dating committee. Assuming the recession is ongoing ...
-
More on manufacturing
The global meltdown continues FOR a few months now, economists have speculated that the current recession might be the worst since the early 1980s. Based on labour market and output numbers, we still have a ways to go to get there. Other datapoints are reaching an ...
The Economist: Free exchange
