Monthly Archives: March 2014
Ontario Manufacturing: Not Getting Better Anytime Soon
The Ontario economy’s manufacturing sector was particularly hard hit by the 2009 recession. One measure of whether it is rebounding is to see if there is substantial new investment going into Ontario manufacturing in terms of capital expenditures on construction, machinery and equipment. It does not look very good.
One general theory of money creation to rule them all!
The Bank of England has published a lovely clear article (by Michael McLeay, Amar Radia and Ryland Thomas) on "Money Creation in the Modern Economy". Thanks to JKH for the tip-off. (Here is JKH's blog post). But I disagree with it. Thinking about monetary policy in terms of interest rate policy just doesn't work. It […]
Feminist framing and general equilibrium theory
Consider a very simple general equilibrium 2X2 example to illustrate my point: Divide the population into two groups: call them "men" and "women". Divide all outcomes into two groups: call them "arts" and "science". Everybody is somewhere in the 2X2 matrix. Here are four questions we could ask of the data: 1. Why are women […]
Macro savings vehicles
An individual who decides to save for retirement has a choice between a number of different savings vehicles: stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. What are the choices when we aggregate up to the economy as a whole? I write this post in response to an email from someone who is knowledgeable about the savings vehicle […]
Alberta Juggernaut Continues…For Now
Friday’s Labor Force Survey release showed total employment and the unemployment rate were little changed and that there has been little overall employment growth in Canada since August. Indeed, total employment shrank slightly in Canada with Quebec and British Columbia faring the worst in terms of the total number of jobs lost. Of course, Alberta […]
Coordination and the demand for money
Why do financial (and other) crises (sometimes) cause a recession? Because they increase the demand for money and so cause an excess demand for the medium of exchange. But why do financial crises increase the demand for money? Because the demand for money depends on the synchronisation of payments and receipts of money, and synchronisation […]
Where has all the spam gone?
Dumb question. The most recent genuine spam comment in the WCI spam filter is dated 17th February. The second most recent is dated 4th February, and the third is dated 28th January. There are 30 spam comments dated 28th January, and 62 dated 27th January. And roughly the same number each and every day before […]
US Budget 2015: Some Quick Thoughts
The Budget of the U.S. Government for the 2015 fiscal year was presented at the White House today and unlike Canada, we are not looking at a balanced budget by 2015. Indeed, the forecast is for a small decline in the deficit but the rest of the decade looks like deficits all the way down. […]
Should Municipalities in Canada Get More Money?
In the tradition of the fur traders of the Northwest Company, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is holding their board meeting “Rendezvous” at the head of the Great Lakes in Thunder Bay from March 5th to 8th. It was difficult task trying to find an agenda on their website but no doubt they will be […]
Russia or China – Who Should the US Worry More About?
Developments in Crimea have shifted international attention to Russia in a manner we have not seen since the end of the Cold War. Recent years have seen an American preoccupation with the rise of China rather than Russia as a world economic and military power but the question remains – which one might be the […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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