Author Archives: wciecon
Kill the Euro now?
It's an ugly thing to say, especially since the end of the Euro will be an ugly thing. But it needs to be said. Back in June, Canada came under pressure to help the Eurozone survive, and came under criticism for failing to help (or failing to help enough). Canada's position was defensible on many […]
How many monetary transmission mechanisms are there?
An economic historian builds a macroeconomic model to help her understand the gold standard. Her model says the central bank sets the dollar price of gold, and the stock of base money is demand-determined. If the central bank raises the dollar price of gold, her model says this will cause an increase in the general […]
Game of Premiers: The Premiers, Health & Public Policy
Well, Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders are gathering in Halifax this week engaged in their version of the Game of Thrones with hurt feelings and fiscal uncertainty rather than beheadings, swordplay and pillaging the most likely dire consequences. Among the issues planned for discussion are energy and health care. Not on the official agenda will […]
Behavioural economics and the Lucas critique
There's been a few recent posts on the Lucas critique in the economics blogosphere (ex: Noahpinion), so I'm going to take advantage of this to make a point that I don't recall seeing made elsewhere. (If I'm re-inventing the wheel here, please let me know in the comments and I'll add the appopriate attribution.) A […]
Worrying about the Canadian housing market, Part 3: Risks of default
Concerns about the housing market are not really about what happens to the market for houses per se; its role as a driving force for the recovery was done long ago. The real concern is the risk is a US-style financial crisis. I think it's a valid concern, but I don't think it's very likely. UWO's […]
Worrying about the Canadian housing market, Part 2: The effects of higher leverage
In a previous post on the housing market, I noted that we were unlikely to see the sorts of interest rate increases that would generate increases in mortgage payments of the size we saw in the early 1980s (up to 60%). And it's a good thing too, because most new homeowners are not as able […]
Worrying about the Canadian housing market, Part 1: Higher interest rates
Like Nick, I've been thinking and worrying about the Canadian housing market, but not blogging about it. I've decided that it's worth putting some points out for discussion on the topic, if only because it's something we should be talking more about. I've broken it down to three separate posts: the second is here and […]
Oil, art, and silver plate
Damian Ortega's sculpture False Movement (Stability and Economic Growth) consists of three oil barrels perched upon a rotating platform. It's a politically motivated art work – "Stability and Economic Growth" was a Mexican election campaign slogan – with an unsubtle message. An oil-based economy is precarious and vulnerable to collapse; the appearance of economic growth is false […]
Unit roots and pro-cyclical fiscal policy
This is something I have long wondered about. And reading Jeff Frankel's complaints (HT Mark Thoma) about pro-cyclical fiscal policy made me wonder about it again. And I do mean "wonder about". I am not at all sure that this idea is right, or even theoretically coherent. But I wonder if it might be. In […]
Growth and Development: The Very Long Run
Well, though still on the road, I’m back in Canada after a conference trip to South Africa where I was part of a session on the analysis of late nineteenth/early twentieth century wealth in Britain and its Dominions using probate records. For a summary of my trip, click here. There was a multitude of interesting […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Recent Comments