To commemorate Memorial Day, let me recommend ”Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War” by Karl Marlantes. There’s little that I can add to the overwhelmingly rave reviews over at Amazon: it’s gripping, intense, and authentic. I was particularly impressed with Marlantes’s skill in portraying the choices that confronted his characters, how seemingly irrational decisions might make sense from an individual’s [...]
Archive for May, 2010
“Matterhorn” by Karl Marlantes
Posted in Life, tagged Book Review on May 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Consumer Spending is Not 70% of the Economy
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Consumers, Data, Economy, GDP, Macroeconomics on May 27, 2010 | 10 Comments »
Journalists, commentators, and economists often say that consumer spending makes up 70% of the U.S. economy. Indeed, it’s easy to find several examples of that claim in today’s coverage of the latest GDP data (e.g., here). And, full confession, I’ve used that phrase a few times myself. There’s just one problem with the 70% claim: it’s [...]
What Should We Do with Fannie and Freddie?
Posted in Budget, Finance, Regulation, tagged Fannie Mae, Finance, Freddie Mac, GSE, Regulation on May 23, 2010 | 8 Comments »
The past few years have demonstrated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage giants, were built on a flawed business model. One that paired private profit in good times with taxpayer burdens in bad times; created systemic risks to the world financial system; concealed the degree of federal involvement in mortgage markets; and [...]
The First Vole of the United States (FVOTUS)
Posted in Life, Nature, tagged Humor on May 21, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I’ve enjoyed the hullabaloo over the rodent that upstaged President Obama during his remarks on financial reform on Thursday. As an animal aficionado, however, I’ve been disheartened by the number of people who believe the critter was a rat or mouse. As the photos show, that just isn’t so: That, dear friends, is a vole. [...]
How Would You Tame the Debt?
Posted in Budget, tagged Debt, Deficit on May 20, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Show of hands, please: Do you think you can do a better job with the federal budget than our leaders in Washington? OK everyone, put your hands down. And put that confidence to the test by clicking over to the new Stabilize the Debt exercise from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The exercise gives [...]
Single-Family Home Construction is Still Flat
Posted in Uncategorized on May 18, 2010 | 8 Comments »
Today’s housing data are again driving some optimistic headlines. Most notably, new starts of single-family homes in April were up more than 10% from March. As I’ve noted in previous posts (here, for example), I think it’s useful to look not only at the number of housing starts, but also at the number of houses under [...]
Financing Needs of Advanced Economies Remain Exceptionally High
Posted in Budget, International, tagged Debt, Deficit, IMF on May 16, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The International Monetary Fund released its latest Fiscal Monitor last week. As expected, the headline message was quite grim for the advanced economies, many of which face grueling fiscal adjustments in coming years. One of the IMF’s most important findings is that the government financing needs of many advanced economies “remain exceptionally high.” As illustrated [...]
A Gray Whale Goes Really Off Course
Posted in Nature, tagged Nature on May 12, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Gray whales usually live along the eastern and western edges of the northern Pacific. Except for the lone individual who somehow turned up on Israel’s Mediterranean coast. As reported by AFP: The appearance of a grey whale off the coast of Israel has stunned scientists, in what was thought to be the first time the [...]
Speculating on the Greek Crisis, Internet Edition
Posted in Internet, tagged Greece, Humor, Internet, Spain on May 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »
At the recent Milken Conference, I attended a panel moderated by Mike “Zappy” Zapolin. His claim to fame? He struck internet gold by developing generic web domains like beer.com, music.com, and the all-too-timely debt.com. It’s much harder to follow in Zappy’s footsteps today since the obvious names are all gone. Except when new developments create [...]
Advice to Nasdaq and the NYSE: Cancel Only 90% of the “Erroneous” Trades
Posted in Finance, Microeconomics, Uncategorized, tagged Finance, Incentives on May 9, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have both announced that they will cancel many trades made during the temporary market meltdown between 2:40 and 3:00 last Thursday afternoon (see, for example, this story from Reuters). These “erroneous” trades include any that were executed at a price more than 60% away from their last trade [...]
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