Monthly Archives: September 2013
Is NGDPLT a perfect guard dog? A challenge.
Can anyone think of a single historical example, in any country, at any time, where NGDPLT would have failed as a guard dog? Is targeting the level-path of Nominal GDP a perfect monetary policy? Almost certainly not. I would be really surprised if something as crude as NGDP turned out to be the very best […]
Population Apocalypse and Apocalyptic Populations
As part of my summer entertainment, I read Dan Brown’s most recent novel – Inferno – which features a bio-terrorism plot involving the release of a virus designed to cause sterility in one-third of the human race in order to control overpopulation. The novel highlights a neo-Malthusian “Population Apocalypse Equation” which argues that the “sustainable […]
For David Andolfatto: why I switched from IT to NGDPLT
This post is for David, but it's mostly about me. I used to think that inflation targeting was probably roughly the best monetary policy to follow. Then, a couple of years ago, I began to think that NGDP level targeting was probably roughly the best monetary policy to follow. This post is about why I […]
What is the link between unionisation and inequality?
I've looked at graphs like this many times over the past few years: One of the things that I notice in that chart is that countries that are reputed to have strong union movements have market inequality outcomes that don't appear to be all that much better than those with weaker union movements. So this […]
Can IKEA Stay Profitable?
As part of moving my daughter into her new abode last week, I had an experience with IKEA, which got me thinking about whether the giant furniture retailer can continue its high growth and profitability. Everyone is of course familiar with the basic approach used by this very successful company. IKEA provides innovative, stylish low […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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