Gene Fama's Nobel Prize
I attempt to explain some of his most important work.
I attempt to explain some of his most important work.
Collection of blog posts
Collection of blog posts on 2013 Nobel Prizes in Economics.
Collection of blog posts on 2013 Nobel Prizes in Economics.
Financial Reform in 12 Minutes
A short paper on where we are. Dodd Frank and Resolution won't work. Regulate run prone liabilities not assets. A regulatory tax on debt will work better than arguing about a red line capital ratio. This turned in to the paper "Toward a run-free financial system"
A short paper on where we are. Dodd Frank and Resolution won't work. Regulate run prone liabilities not assets. A regulatory tax on debt will work better than arguing about a red line capital ratio. This turned in to the paper "Toward a run-free financial system"
The danger of an all-powerful Federal Reserve
Wall Street Journal. Macro-prudential policy is a license to discretionary financial dirigisme. Clear lessons of monetary policy warn us not to go down this path.
Wall Street Journal. Macro-prudential policy is a license to discretionary financial dirigisme. Clear lessons of monetary policy warn us not to go down this path.
Think government is intrusive now? Wait until E-Verify kicks in.
Wall Street Journal. Congress wants every person in the country to get the Federal Government's approval before he or she can get a job. They must be kidding. See chapter 1 of Capitalism and Freedom
Wall Street Journal. Congress wants every person in the country to get the Federal Government's approval before he or she can get a job. They must be kidding. See chapter 1 of Capitalism and Freedom
Stopping Bank Crises Before They Start
Wall Street Journal. Don't try to regulate the riskiness of bank assets, while keeping in place government guarantees. Instead, don't let banks issue run-prone liabilities.
Wall Street Journal. Don't try to regulate the riskiness of bank assets, while keeping in place government guarantees. Instead, don't let banks issue run-prone liabilities.
America Needs an Alternative Maximum Tax
Wall Street Journal. Local Copy.
Wall Street Journal. Local Copy.
Debt and growth video
All the world's troubles in 10 minutes. Posted 4/14/2013 but the event was March 2012.
All the world's troubles in 10 minutes. Posted 4/14/2013 but the event was March 2012.
The interest rate paradox
Slides for a talk at Grant's spring conference. I haven't written up the talk yet, but if you were there and want the pictures here they are.
Slides for a talk at Grant's spring conference. I haven't written up the talk yet, but if you were there and want the pictures here they are.
Treasury needs a better long game
Wall Street Journal. Local pdf. (Better:) Blog post with a few cuts restored and some notes. If the Fed wants to raise rates to 5%, it will raise the deficit by $900 billion. Will Congress let it do that? Fiscal policy limits monetary policy in a time of large debt. A much longer maturity structure would help.
Wall Street Journal. Local pdf. (Better:) Blog post with a few cuts restored and some notes. If the Fed wants to raise rates to 5%, it will raise the deficit by $900 billion. Will Congress let it do that? Fiscal policy limits monetary policy in a time of large debt. A much longer maturity structure would help.
Running on Empty
Running on empty (pdf) (link to WSJ (html)) March 2 2013 Review of "The Banker's new Clothes" by Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig. Banks should issue a heck of a lot more equity, a heck of a lot less debt, and a heck of a lot less nonsense.
Read More >
Running on empty (pdf) (link to WSJ (html)) March 2 2013 Review of "The Banker's new Clothes" by Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig. Banks should issue a heck of a lot more equity, a heck of a lot less debt, and a heck of a lot less nonsense.
Read More >
"Chicago tonight" interview
"Chicago tonight" interview on the fiscal cliff. Video.
"Chicago tonight" interview on the fiscal cliff. Video.
Cochrane on Health Care
EconTalk podcast with Russ Roberts, on "After the ACA"
EconTalk podcast with Russ Roberts, on "After the ACA"
Having your cake and eating it too: The maturity structure of US debt
How the US Treasury can both lengthen and shorten its debt at the same time, to buy insurance against interest rate rises and provide "liquidity." A short paper diguised as comments on Greenwood, Hanson, and Stein “A Comparative Advantage Approach to Government Debt Maturity†at the Second Annual Roundtable on Treasury Markets and Debt Management, US Treasury, Nov. 15 2012.
How the US Treasury can both lengthen and shorten its debt at the same time, to buy insurance against interest rate rises and provide "liquidity." A short paper diguised as comments on Greenwood, Hanson, and Stein “A Comparative Advantage Approach to Government Debt Maturity†at the Second Annual Roundtable on Treasury Markets and Debt Management, US Treasury, Nov. 15 2012.
Bloomberg TV interview
Bloomberg TV interview, with Betty Liu on the fiscal cliff.
Bloomberg TV interview, with Betty Liu on the fiscal cliff.
NPR Marketplace
NPR Marketplace also here. 10 minute audio on what the election means for economic policy. Related blog post.
NPR Marketplace also here. 10 minute audio on what the election means for economic policy. Related blog post.
Bloomberg TV interview
Bloomberg TV interview, Betty Liu, "In the loop" show, The ECB's huge "sterilized" bond buying announcement, and the future of the Federal Reserve.
Bloomberg TV interview, Betty Liu, "In the loop" show, The ECB's huge "sterilized" bond buying announcement, and the future of the Federal Reserve.
CBO and the fiscal cliff
Bloomberg.com "Business class" OpEd. local copy ; blog post. A review of the CBO's forecast that the "fiscal cliff" will cause a recession. It's Keynesian, ignoring all incentive effects, and thus right but for the wrong reasons. Policy models should be much more transparent quantiative parables, showing the logic of their foreasts and not pretent to be authoritative black boxes.
Bloomberg.com "Business class" OpEd. local copy ; blog post. A review of the CBO's forecast that the "fiscal cliff" will cause a recession. It's Keynesian, ignoring all incentive effects, and thus right but for the wrong reasons. Policy models should be much more transparent quantiative parables, showing the logic of their foreasts and not pretent to be authoritative black boxes.
All the world's troubles in 10 minutes
Update Sept 2012. In Government Policies and the delayed Economic Recovery Lee E. Ohanian, John B. Taylor and Ian J. Wright, eds., Stanford: Hoover Institution Press (Sept 2 2012), p. 193-199. (Whole book here ; Manuscript of my comments here. ) Written version of my remarks at the Hoover Conference, "Restoring Robust Growth in America," Dec 2 2011. Europe's crisis and how the economy is a garden, needing weeding not the latest fertilizer.
Update Sept 2012. In Government Policies and the delayed Economic Recovery Lee E. Ohanian, John B. Taylor and Ian J. Wright, eds., Stanford: Hoover Institution Press (Sept 2 2012), p. 193-199. (Whole book here ; Manuscript of my comments here. ) Written version of my remarks at the Hoover Conference, "Restoring Robust Growth in America," Dec 2 2011. Europe's crisis and how the economy is a garden, needing weeding not the latest fertilizer.