Author Archives: wciecon
How do we get from here to Armageddon?
This is essentially a rerun of this earlier post, which produced no answers I found convincing. It's provoked by Livio's recent post, which produced comments raising questions similar to one that I've been asking for many months now. The question is: what are the mechanics behind "there's a housing bubble in Vancouver" (it's always Vancouver) […]
What Does a Canadian Housing Bust Look Like?
Housing prices in Canada and the possibility of a burst housing bubble were back in the news during this past week. A report by Capital Economics said that housing prices in Canada could fall by as much as 25 percent over the next three years as a result of a loss in market fundamentals that […]
The inverse function theorem and the monetary policy instrument
I'm not very good at math. So treat this post accordingly. [Ooops! As Kevin points out. I meant the *inverse* function theorem. I did say I was no good at math. I've edited it now. Can't find the strikeout function.]. The basic idea here seems rather obvious. But I don't remember anyone making this connection […]
Ontario’s Recession Battered Families
Recessions generate many statistics but in the end its all about the people and their families. Statistics Canada today released family income data for sub-provincial areas for 2009 taken from the 2009 personal income tax returns.
The macroeconomics of doing nothing
Suppose there is an increase in desired saving, and the monetary and fiscal authorities do nothing. What happens? That's the most important practical question in macroeconomics over the last few years. And it's also a really stupid question. And understanding why it's a really stupid question, and changing the way that question is asked — […]
Wife jokes as an indicator of marital discord
Last night I was watching a Best of Dave Allen DVD. I like the funny wordplay, but some of the wife jokes are lame. A wife joke is a joke like this one: "First guy (proudly): "My wife's an angel!" Second guy: "You're lucky, mine's still alive."
NHL: Would You Rather Have the 24th Overall Pick or the 35th and 48th?
Similar to yesterday's question, but this one involving a trade where the Red Wings sent the 24th pick overall to the Senators in exchange for the 35th and 48th pick. The Senators would seem to do better with this trade than the Leafs, as the pick they receive is 2 picks lower (24 vs. 22) […]
NHL: Would You Rather Have the 22nd Overall Pick or the 30th and 39th?
I didn't get a chance to watch the draft yesterday, but I was getting updates via text message, including the following: Leafs acquire 22nd overall pick in 2011 from Ducks for 30th and 39th overall picks in 2011… It wasn't immediately obvious to me who got the better deal – the Leafs or the Ducks. […]
Economics, History and the Shrinking Middle
As an economic historian by training, I’m always aware of the unique ground straddled by practitioners of the cliometric craft. We are economists by training and in terms of many of the questions we are interested in, but much of our research focuses on collection and analysis of primary sources.
Headline and Core, again. And the ECB.
They are still at it! (Making totally irrelevant arguments about headline vs core.) How to kill this zombie? Here is a very simple model of inflation. Don't take it too literally. It's just for illustration. 1. H(t) = aH(t-1) + bC(t-1) – cR(t-1) + e(t) H(t) is headline inflation at time t; C(t) is core […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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