Category Nick Rowe
New (Canadian) blog on the Cuban Economy
My friend and Carleton University colleague Arch Ritter has just started a new blog "The Cuban Economy/La Economia Cubana". He currently has three posts: one on Cuban real wages and GDP (why have real wages recovered little from the 90% decline in the early 1990's, while reported GDP has recovered fully); a second on a […]
We’re frozen at #8 on the Palgrave
The Palgrave Econolog seems to have been frozen since June 16. I shouldn't complain, since this blog is also frozen as ranked 8th out of 456 economics and finance blogs, which is really good, and better than we've ever been, I think. But I do wish the Palgrave would re-start, even if it does mean […]
Confidence: In what?
It's a very old argument, and there's some truth in it. Financial crises and recessions are caused by a loss of confidence. And policies that might normally help end the recession might actually make things worse, if they worsen confidence. Confidence in what? The problem right now is that there is too much confidence: in […]
The use of knowledge in blogging
The title is a nod to Hayek's famous essay "The use of knowledge in society". I think that essay is the best thing Hayek ever wrote. But I don't really know that, because I haven't read everything Hayek ever wrote. Possibly nobody has read everything Hayek ever wrote (except Hayek, but he's dead). But there […]
Sticky wages and unemployment rate differentials
This is a short note to add to Bryan Caplan's note on Tyler Cowen's post on sticky wages. Suppose workers differ in quality, where "quality" is defined as "quality in the eyes of potential employers". In equilibrium there will be an equilibrium relationship between the distribution of wages and quality. Higher quality workers will get […]
Why can’t Canadians get 30 year mortgages (but Americans can)?
The typical Canadian mortgage matures in 5 years or less. Why can't Canadians get (say) 30 year mortgages? I used to think that the answer was "inflation", or "inflation uncertainty". Now I don't. Now I think the answer is "Section 10 of the Canada Interest Act". Which we should abolish. Why can Americans get 30 […]
US fixed rate mortgages aren’t fixed rate mortgages; they are weird, stupid, and dangerous
Americans aren't really insular, like the English. But they live in a very big country, and that can have the same effect. If there's something peculiar about the US, Americans sometimes won't realise how peculiar it is. US mortgages are peculiar. "Weird" is a better term. Patrick Lawler, as described by James Hagerty, has tried […]
Why do economists assume tradeoffs?
It's Principle #1 of Greg Mankiw's Intro text's Ten Principles of Economics: "People Face Tradeoffs". Why? Why do economists always make this assumption? Why does having more of one good thing always have to mean having less of another good thing? Is this some fact of nature? Is Nature such a meanie that she can't […]
(Why) Was old stuff built to last?
Was old stuff built to last longer than new stuff? If so, why? This is not a serious post. I enjoy (economic) history, and think it's important. But I'm really bad at it. History is the only subject I failed in school (too much stuff to remember). But my mind is still stuck on thinking […]
New Keynesian macroeconomics doesn’t make sense to me any more
WARNING: this post is not quite ready for prime-time. But I can't figure out how to re-write it before I leave to England this evening. And we were arguing about this stuff in comments on my Tinkerbell post, so I'm just going to post it anyway. Old Keynesian macroeconomics makes sense. It might be right, […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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