Saturday, October 25, 2014

Baker and Krugman on QE

Krugman on Quantitative Easing and Inequality by Dean Baker

Housing and Fed Fail

Baker would agree investment is as expected - pace Yglesias, but would disagree about housing.

Over at Equitable Growth: Is There Really a Profits-Investment Disconnect?: (Late) Friday Focus for October 24, 2014 by DeLong
As a result of the housing bubble, the mortgage frauds, the attempts at regulatory arbitrage on their balance sheets by the money-center universal banks, the financial crisis, et sequelae, U.S. real GDP today is now 12% below what we back in 2007 expected it to be now. Since the post financial-crisis trough U.S. real economic growth has proceeded at 2.24%/year, compared to the 3.00%/year growth rate we saw between 1990 and 2007.

So far there are no signs anywhere that the gap between today and the pre-2007 trend in levels will be made up. So far there are no signs anywhere that the gap between today and the pre-2007 trend in growth rates will be made up. 
That means that, come 2024 a decade hence, we can now expect a U.S. economy to be 19.5% smaller than the economy we confidently projected as of 2007 we would have. 
And, with a capital-output ratio of roughly 3, that means that between 2007 and 2024 cumulative net investment will be lower than projected back in 2007 by 58.5%-point years of GDP--and cumulative gross investment considerably lower.

Gross versus Net

Reading it a lot lately.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Gough Whitlam

Gough Whitlam has died by John Quiggin


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

NGDP futures market

Quick update on NGDP futures
by Scott Sumner

No one told me it was going to be hard to give away money!  Seriously, there are a few more complications than I anticipated, and I am now waiting for specific instructions from iPredict and Hypermind about how to proceed.  But it will get worked out.
Meanwhile the early Hypermind Q3 futures contract, with 100 euros in prize money, has now been upgraded to a combined Q3 and Q4 with 1000 euros in prize money. So it just became much more attractive.  Recall that at Hypermind, traders do not have to put up their own money–it’s not “gambling.”  But you do need to register first.  

Eventually we will deliver much more money for prizes at Hypermind.

Update:  I was sent the following information:
The real-time forecasts are published on this page, which requires the password: “illusion“.

The contracts are at about 34/35 right now, which means 3.4% to 3.5% annualized growth.  That seems like an opportunity. :)
PS.  Super busy this week.  All I have time for is to point out that the collapse of the Chinese economy, predicted for 20 years, once again failed to materialize in Q3.  Now some brave souls are predicting Chinese growth will slow over time.  You mean they won’t keep growing at 10% as they become highly developed?  I never would have guessed.

Person of Interest



AV Club reviews Person Of Interest: “Prophets”


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Rogue


20 additional episodes have been ordered.

Sorrowing man, look how worn you've become
You once were Lord of the barren sea
There's blood on our hands in this perfect madness
You're living on borrowed time

Oh how you have lost your way,
Oh how you have lost your way

There's no sympathy f
or we don't know the cure
Cause what you've got, well it runs too deep
But you've lived and breathed more than any man I know
But you're not done, oh, at least I hope

Oh how you have lost your way,
Oh how you have lost your way
In this life we have made together
Oh how you have lost your way

Oh, how you have lost your way
Oh, how you have lost your way.

Yglesias on neoliberalism, dividends and buybacks

One paragraph that explains why the American economy isn't working for the middle class by Matt Yglesais