Also interesting is the chart which compares the population of provinces to countries. Shandong has more people than Germany.
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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Rules of economics?
Sometimes incentives do not matter. I would like to see a study done on this innovative pilot program and why it did not succeed. Incentives improved behavior to some extent but not outcome.
“You always hope that you’ll come across a magic silver bullet, and you never do,” he said. “If there were simple solutions, somebody would have found them a long time ago. And you make progress incrementally, particularly if you’re trying to focus on some of society’s biggest problems.”
Monday, March 29, 2010
Causes of the Crisis
Many continue to get this wrong, but Ritholtz nails it. Deregulation of derivatives was one cause of the downfall of AIG, Lehman and Bear. It allowed them to do poor underwriting without scrutiny.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Afghanistan Atrocities
“We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat,” said Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal,
Real trade numbers
Trade figures do not include value added flows:
the real U.S.-China trade deficit would be as much as 30% lower than last year's gap of at $226.8 billion, according to a number of economists.
At the same time, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan would have been 25% higher than the $44.8 billion reported last year, because many goods that China and others export to the U.S. contain parts purchased in Japan.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Colonels know best
Lt. Col. Brown adds, "We were just providing a recruitment tool for the insurgency."
Deere, Caterpillar: Health-Care Law to Raise Expenses
Wrong headline. The headline of this should read: "Companies use Accountants to make Political Statement". The law was written so that companies can no longer take a tax deduction on subsidies that they receive.
And the tax details here.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
More on Health Care Predictions
A rather sane point made by McArdle. I hope that she follows up and gives an update in five years.
The Case for Ending the Mortgage Deduction - NYTimes.com
The mortgage deduction should have been phased out during the bubble. That was the last chance for a while. This is one of the most sensible and progressive changes but is politically impossible.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Asset Management Industry in 2010 McKinsey.pdf — RGhost — file sharing
McKinsey Annual Report on Asset Management
Prescriptions for financial reform
I would only at a risk limit.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Cognitive dissonance at WSJ
Amazing that the editors let this title slip by. This is why the Republicans are worried. This bill will not be repealed.
She listened to Obama's speech, starting from minute 7.
An Obama classic.
"We are not bound to Win, we are bound to be true"
Highlights at 7, 17 and 27 minutes.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The Threat to Muddle Through
The Japanese yen was 350/$ in 1971. It is now 90. That is a 75% devaluation and Japan still runs a trade surplus with the United States. The yuan rate is not even the most important reason why China has a surplus with the US.
Happiness Research
Bok writes about happiness and government policy: treat unemployment, chronic pain and depression. Forget about everything else.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Econbrowser: The Mason-Dixon Line in Health Care Reform: Economists Edition
Still fighting the civil war. And the Confederates won at Gettysburg ?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
RMB
Great discussion of the RMB.
Revaluation of the RMB is not negative for China but will be a reallocation of wealth from government and manufacturers to households. Not clear it will help the US trade deficit as manufacturing will shift to other low cost producers.
Scott Sumner:
Five countries in Asia Singapore, Taiwan Korea Hong Kong and Japan combined have a ca surplus as big as China. They are richer. why are we not bashing them?
You cannot fix the problem if you cannot agree on the cause.
The crisis was a housing bubble caused by poor underwriting and exacerbated by securitization and derivatives to hide risk from investors and regulators.
It does not seem that complicated.
It does not seem that complicated.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Why are these headlines?
This is what countries are supposed to do. They fight for national interests. That is why U.S. uses trade rules to its advantage.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
3 Rulings Find No Link to Vaccines and Autism - NYTimes.com
Minor triumph of science over sceptics. Maybe global warming is next.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Understanding probability
Consumers and the mass media generally do not understand probability. Toyatas and most other cars get safer every year.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Thursday, March 04, 2010
"Appearance and Reality in Public Life"
It appears that we are in the nightmare scenario:
The nightmare scenario for democracy:
- Elected officials have no sincere adherence to the public good; they pursue their own private and political interests through all the powers available to them. (Senator Jim Bunning's unembarrassed willingness to block extension of unemployment legislation for narrow personal and political reasons falls in this category.)
- Elected officials are sometimes overtly corruptible, accepting significant gifts in exchange for official performance.
- Elected officials are intimidated by the power of private interests (corporations) to fund electoral opposition to their re-election. (The Supreme Court decision on corporate free speech makes this much more likely.)
- Regulatory agencies are dominated by the industries they regulate; independent commissioners are forced out of office; and regulations are toothless when it comes to environmental protection, wilderness protection, health and safety in the workplace, and food safety.
- Lobbyists for special interests and corporations have almost unrestricted access to legislators and regulators, and are generally able to achieve their goals.
Gun-non Control
"The only thing worse than a yuppie upset with how their frappuccino turned out is a yuppie with a gun who's unhappy with how their frappuccino turned out,'"
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Japan’s Slow-Motion Crisis
Slow motion. The lost decade has turned into a lost 20 years. Downtown Tokyo is one of the most impressive cities in the world.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Senate nears agreement on consumer financial protection
The Fed is not a bad place for the consumer protection agency. Creating another regulator is inefficient and would only lead to more turf battles which waste vast amounts of time.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Just deserts
Interesting spelling lesson in an essay about thoughts in taxation and income distribution.
Greg Mankiw's Blog: Just a Spelling Lesson
Greg Mankiw's Blog: Just a Spelling Lesson
and a link to a great Doonsbury.
US manufacturers face skills shortages
Typical of the recent msm junk articles on labor "shortages". Wage and benefit growth has not kept up. Companies need to raise wages not pay their CEO's 18 million when they retire. There is not a labor shortage, there is nearly a 20 percent unemployment rate in the US.