Author Archives: wciecon
“Monetary policy is just one damn interest rate after another”
No it isn't. History might appear to be just one damn fact after another, but it's the job of social scientists to make sense of those facts, and try to explain the endogenous facts in terms of (relatively speaking) exogenous facts.
The case for taxing basic groceries
Economists frequently argue that taxing basic groceries is a good idea – for example, see these papers/posts making the case for taxing food in the US, Canada, and New Zealand.
“The supply of money is demand-determined”
Rant mode on. It made my flesh creep just to type that title. Some statements are right. Some statements are wrong. Some statements aren't even wrong. Some statements, like the one in my title, aren't even not even wrong; they are just gibberish.
Banking “mysticism” and the hot potato
Paul Krugman seems to have gotten into an argument with the MMT guys about commercial banks creating money. I'm just giving my own views on this question. I'm basically following Leland Yeager [update: and David Laidler]. Strangely, while I agree with the MMT guys on many points (banks do create money out of thin air) […]
Blue sky money three: boomerang money
This post meanders and doesn't really come to any clear conclusion. Read at your own risk. Imagine, just imagine, that every dollar I spent was attached to a very long rubber band; and sooner or later it would return to my wallet to buy something I wanted to sell. Or that every dollar I spent […]
Bleg: Ph.D. Thesis Defense Advice for Economists
Not so much a blog post as it is a cry for help. I am finally defending my thesis on Tuesday. I am at a Business School (Ivey), but the thesis, Revenue Management in Multi-Firm, Multi-Product Price Competition is of a traditional Industrial Organization sort. For those of you who have been through the process – any […]
Live, on tape delay, it’s the federal budget
I'm about to leave for Ottawa to take part in this conference (program here). My original plan was to arrive early and spend the day touring Ottawa, but then the government decided that March 29 would also be budget day. So I'll be spending the day instead at the budget lockup with the Globe and Mail team. […]
Should Canadian professors be paid in US dollars?
A recent study claims that Canadian university professors are – as the Toronto Star put it – "the best-paid in the world". The media reports should be interpreted with caution. The study is restricted to professors at public universities, hence excludes the highest earning academics in the US and, possibly, other countries. "The world" turns out […]
Ontario’s 2012 Budget: Bending the Spending Curve
Well the Ontario budget is out and despite all the talk of 30 percent across-the-board budget cutting in the wake of the Drummond Report, it forecasts more a deceleration of spending growth rather than steep cuts.
Do economics majors need to learn Excel?
My first job after finishing my undergraduate degree in economics involved using Lotus 1-2-3 – the first "killer app" spreadsheet program – to create graphs. I'd never been taught to use a spreadsheet, but I worked it out. Fast forward a couple of decades. Spreadsheets are ubiquitious in the workplace. When a new research assistant […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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