Monthly Archives: November 2013
Russet apples and the Sam-I-Am theory of affirmative action
For years, I've been avoiding buying russet apples. They have such unattractive tawny brown skins. Not like the smooth, pink-cheeked Royal Galas and MacIntoshes. Until this fall. "What kind of apples would you like?", I asked my out-of-town visitors. "Well, russets are the best, of course, but I doubt you'll be able to get them. […]
Why inflation will not fall off a bottomless cliff
"My model can identify the edge of a bottomless ZLB cliff. To the north of the edge of that cliff, there can be an equilibrium rate of inflation. To the south of the edge of that cliff, there cannot be an equilibrium rate of inflation, because the cliff is bottomless. Therefore inflation will not go […]
On firing your advisers
[Update: Steve Williamson says in comments the lack of communication started much earlier. If that's right, then I think my theory fails empirically in this case.] If you are in a position of power and responsibility you need advisers. The main job of your advisers is to stop you saying something stupid in public. You […]
Intertemporal Say’s Law
Say's Law says there cannot be a general glut: if some goods are in excess supply, other goods must be in excess demand. It's wrong, in a monetary exchange economy, as Say himself eventually realised. Suppose you are short-sighted. You can observe the markets that are close to you in space, but you cannot see […]
Canadian Housing Markets: Bubbles if Necessary but Not Necessarily a Bubble
The debate over whether or not Canada’s housing market is a bubble that is going to crash heated up again this month. Earlier this month, the Financial Times warned that the Canadian housing market was “perched precariously at its peak”. Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said this week that Canada’s housing market was not […]
Does the invention of nifty new goods increase AD?
I'm going to offer a partial defence of Michael Mandel against Scott Sumner. (Read Scott to see what Michael said and might have meant, but it doesn't really matter what he really meant, because it's an interesting question anyway). The question is this: would the invention of a lot of nifty new goods that people […]
Optimal fiscal and monetary policy in a hybrid Old/New Keynesian model with and without the ZLB
Update: see update at very end. Some people aren't as rational and future-oriented as agents in New Keynesian models. Some people aren't as present-oriented as agents in Old Keynesian models. A hybrid Old/New Keynesian model, with both types of agents, looks attractive. But other people's hybrid models looked too complicated, so I decided to build […]
The Economics of Rob Ford
The dramatic municipal opera currently underway in Toronto over embattled Mayor Rob Ford is fascinating for those of us who live in small hinterland “non-world class cities” that are supposedly devoid of the sophisticated political leadership enjoyed by cities like Toronto. The enduring popularity and populism of Rob Ford in Toronto despite his outrageous behavior […]
A suggestion for simplifying some macro math
She took a lot of heat for saying it, but I agree with Talking Barbie: math class is hard. It's especially hard in economics. And I find it much harder than most economists. So I have always been on the hunt for devious little tricks to avoid doing hard math. Here's one such trick:
Neo-Wicksellian indeterminacy in pictures
Pre-requisite: second year macro (go read the intermediate textbook on ISLM).
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Recent Comments