Paul Krugman's Blog, page 636
May 19, 2009
Actually existing Minsky
So I'm actually reading Hyman Minsky's magnum opus, here in Seoul. (Yay Amazon Kindle; boo its habit of crashing every hour or so, and having to be reset. Are other people having that problem?) And I have to say that the Platonic ideal of Minsky is a lot better than the reality.
There's a deep insight [...:]
There's a deep insight [...:]
May 17, 2009
A Katrina mystery explained
One of the many mysteries during the week of Katrina was the absence of military help. I picked up on this in the column I wrote during that time:
Even military resources in the right place weren't ordered into action. "On Wednesday," said an editorial in The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., "reporters listening to horrific [...:]
Even military resources in the right place weren't ordered into action. "On Wednesday," said an editorial in The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., "reporters listening to horrific [...:]
The night they reread Minsky
Brad DeLong offers a neat little model of speculative fluctuations in asset prices, based on the idea that investors gradually switch strategies based on what seems to work for other people: if people buying stocks seem to be doing well, more people move into stocks, driving up prices and making stocks look even more attractive. [...:]
May 15, 2009
Forgotten snark
Brad DeLong catches a footnote in a decade-old paper by Olivier Blanchard:
Paul Krugman recently wondered how many macroeconomists still believe in the IS-LM model. The answer is probably that most do, but many of them probably do not know it well enough to tell.
I actually have no memory of saying that. But I was worrying [...:]
Paul Krugman recently wondered how many macroeconomists still believe in the IS-LM model. The answer is probably that most do, but many of them probably do not know it well enough to tell.
I actually have no memory of saying that. But I was worrying [...:]
China and the liquidity trap
I liked this David Leonhardt article about the China-US economic relationship. But I do have a problem with this passage:
The most obviously worrisome part of the situation today is that the Chinese could decide that they no longer want to buy Treasury bonds. The U.S. government's recent spending for bank bailouts and stimulus may be [...:]
The most obviously worrisome part of the situation today is that the Chinese could decide that they no longer want to buy Treasury bonds. The U.S. government's recent spending for bank bailouts and stimulus may be [...:]
A brief moment of sanity
OK, I've got a small break in my trip. Right now I'm in … actually, given what the past week has been like, I'm not going to say, since I really really don't want reporters calling.
I hope that when China develops a bit further, it will revise its notion of how long a speech plus [...:]
I hope that when China develops a bit further, it will revise its notion of how long a speech plus [...:]
May 14, 2009
Shanghaied
Apologies for lack of posts. I'm traveling around Asia and the schedule leaves no time for the blog.
May 5, 2009
Nothing to say
Andrew Leonard and Calculated Risk want to know why I didn't blog about dinner at the White House. Um, because the conversation was off the record.
May 4, 2009
Leaking under stress
John Hempton has a good question, which other people have asked me: who is leaking about the stress tests?
Traditionally, leaks to the press come from officials trying to curry favor with journalists, who will treat them favorably in the future. (See Woodward, Bob.) But that's kind of hard to see as a motive in the [...:]
Traditionally, leaks to the press come from officials trying to curry favor with journalists, who will treat them favorably in the future. (See Woodward, Bob.) But that's kind of hard to see as a motive in the [...:]
What the Times said
From the editorial page:
The Obama administration sat by last week as 12 Senate Democrats joined 39 Senate Republicans to block a vote on an amendment that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify troubled mortgages.
Senator Obama campaigned on the provision. And President Obama made its passage part of his antiforeclosure plan. It would have been [...:]
The Obama administration sat by last week as 12 Senate Democrats joined 39 Senate Republicans to block a vote on an amendment that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify troubled mortgages.
Senator Obama campaigned on the provision. And President Obama made its passage part of his antiforeclosure plan. It would have been [...:]
