Monthly Archives: September 2005
The Equity Premium and Fat Tails
New Economist discusses Robert Barro’s latest contribution to the equity premium literature over here, and Brad DeLong weighs in as well. As in Marty Weiztman’s recent paper "A Unified Bayesian Theory of Equity ‘Puzzles’" (pdf) (discussed by Brad DeLong here), the main result rests on a returns density with fat tails – that is, one […]
The Great Imbalance – Overture
Last week’s Economist had a nice survey on the odd patterns we’ve seen in the international flows of savings and capital over the past few years. Ordinarily, we’d expect to see savings and investment flow from rich countries (where capital is relatively abundant) to poor countries (where capital is relatively scarce). But that’s not what’s […]
Note to self: Learn more economic history
Yesterday, I thought there were only two other Canadian academic economists with blogs: John Palmer’s Eclectic Econoclast and Brian Ferguson’s Canadian Econoview. But today I’m delighted to add Sandra Peart’s Adam Smith Lives! to that list (thanks to Adam Smith’s Lost Legacy for the pointer). Sandra’s mission is to haul economic history to its rightful […]
The Great Canadian Productivity Puzzle
Anyone who is interested in studying the Canadian economy invariably ends up spending a great deal of time poring over productivity numbers. The reason is simple: they stink. And no-one seems to know what’s causing the smell. Over the period 1984-2002 (the data are from the OECD, and that’s the longest available), Canada’s GDP per […]
Absolute Minivans
Today’s post is courtesy of Jim Stanford, the Canadian Autoworkers (CAW) economist who has a regular column at the Globe and Mail, the Canadian newspaper of record: Asia must open its markets – or stop flooding ours (subscription required): Chrysler pioneered the minivan in the 1980s, from its assembly plant in Windsor, Ont… Canada does […]
Introduction
Canadian academic economists have a low public profile. Offhand, it’s pretty easy to come up with at least three reasons for that: We’re Canadian. We’re academics. We’re economists. That pretty much adds up to the trifecta in the category of "people whose opinion is not eagerly sought out". But I think there’s more to it […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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