News/Op-Eds John Cochrane News/Op-Eds John Cochrane

A debt crisis is on the horizon

Washington Post. Debt and deficits are a danger. Rising interest rates could spark big trouble quickly. Reforming entitlements is the answer, and sooner better than later. Written with Mike Boskin, John Cogan, George Shultz, and John Taylor. Local copy (pdf).

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Washington Post. Debt and deficits are a danger. Rising interest rates could spark big trouble quickly. Reforming entitlements is the answer, and sooner better than later. Written with Mike Boskin, John Cogan, George Shultz, and John Taylor. Local copy (pdf).

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News/Op-Eds John Cochrane News/Op-Eds John Cochrane

Eight Heresies of Monetary Policy

1) The Fed has not been holding interest rates down. 2) QE did basically nothing. 3) The Fed is not stoking asset price bubbles. 4) The Fed has little control over real rates 5) The economy is stable 6) Interest rates only temporarily lower inflation. 7) The Phillips curve is dead 8) Long-term fiscal policy, not Fed mistakes, pose the greatest danger to inflation. Slides.

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1) The Fed has not been holding interest rates down. 2) QE did basically nothing. 3) The Fed is not stoking asset price bubbles. 4) The Fed has little control over real rates 5) The economy is stable 6) Interest rates only temporarily lower inflation. 7) The Phillips curve is dead 8) Long-term fiscal policy, not Fed mistakes, pose the greatest danger to inflation. Slides.

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News/Op-Eds John Cochrane News/Op-Eds John Cochrane

Law and the Regulatory State

In Thomas W. Gilligan, Ed., American Exceptionalism in a New Era, Hoover Institution Press, p. 57-70. Exceptionalism interpreted as the rule of law guaranteeing economic freedom. In peril, as always.

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In Thomas W. Gilligan, Ed., American Exceptionalism in a New Era, Hoover Institution Press, p. 57-70. Exceptionalism interpreted as the rule of law guaranteeing economic freedom. In peril, as always.

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News/Op-Eds John Cochrane News/Op-Eds John Cochrane

Growing Risks to the Budget and the Economy

Testimony to House Budget Committee, Sept 14 2016. Economic growth is the big problem; bi-partisan policies to fix it rather than keep yelling the same talking points louder. On debt, the small probability of a debt crisis is the big problem, and how to avoid it. Oral remarks much shorter, sweeter (I get 5 minutes) but less documented.

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Testimony to House Budget Committee, Sept 14 2016. Economic growth is the big problem; bi-partisan policies to fix it rather than keep yelling the same talking points louder. On debt, the small probability of a debt crisis is the big problem, and how to avoid it. Oral remarks much shorter, sweeter (I get 5 minutes) but less documented.

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News/Op-Eds Juliann Klein News/Op-Eds Juliann Klein

A Blueprint for Effective Financial Reform 

Equity-financed banking. How it works, and substitutes for the Dodd-Frank illusion that regulators can keep us safe. This is the paper behind the talk, next item. In George P. Shultz, ed., Blueprint for America Hoover Institution Press, p. 71 - 84.

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Equity-financed banking. How it works, and substitutes for the Dodd-Frank illusion that regulators can keep us safe. This is the paper behind the talk, next item. In George P. Shultz, ed., Blueprint for America Hoover Institution Press, p. 71 - 84.

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News/Op-Eds John Cochrane News/Op-Eds John Cochrane

Ending America’s Slow-Growth Tailspin

WSJ oped. I try to quantify how much growth we could get out of better policy by regressing GDP per capita on the World bank's ease of doing business measure. The answer: a lot. Local pdf

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WSJ oped. I try to quantify how much growth we could get out of better policy by regressing GDP per capita on the World bank's ease of doing business measure. The answer: a lot. Local pdf

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News/Op-Eds John Cochrane News/Op-Eds John Cochrane

A New Structure for U.S. Federal Debt

In David Wessel, Ed., The $13 Trillion Question: Managing the U.S. Government's Debt, pp. 91-146. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. Last manuscript. I propose a restructuring of U. S. Federal debt. All debt should be perpetual, paying coupons forever with no principal payment. The debt should be composed of 1) Fixed-value, floating-rate, electronically transferable debt. Such debt looks like a money-market fund, or reserves at the Fed, to an investor. 2) Nominal perpetuities: This debt pays a coupon of $1 per bond, forever. 3) Indexed perpetuities: This debt pays a coupon of $1 times the current consumer price index (CPI). 4) All debt should be free of income, estate, capital gains, and other taxes. 5) long term debt should have explicitly variable coupons. 6) Swaps. The Treasury should adjust maturity structure, interest rate and inflation exposure of the Federal budget by transacting in simple swaps among these securities.

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In David Wessel, Ed., The $13 Trillion Question: Managing the U.S. Government's Debt, pp. 91-146. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. Last manuscript. I propose a restructuring of U. S. Federal debt. All debt should be perpetual, paying coupons forever with no principal payment. The debt should be composed of 1) Fixed-value, floating-rate, electronically transferable debt. Such debt looks like a money-market fund, or reserves at the Fed, to an investor. 2) Nominal perpetuities: This debt pays a coupon of $1 per bond, forever. 3) Indexed perpetuities: This debt pays a coupon of $1 times the current consumer price index (CPI). 4) All debt should be free of income, estate, capital gains, and other taxes. 5) long term debt should have explicitly variable coupons. 6) Swaps. The Treasury should adjust maturity structure, interest rate and inflation exposure of the Federal budget by transacting in simple swaps among these securities.

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