Roger Pielke Jr. takes a critical look (here and here) at a novel theory of the recession from Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz in Vanity Fair, the eminent economics journal. This is an extended version of the comment that I made on the second posting. The Stiglitz theory would make a bit of sense if it [...]
All posts in category Credit Crunch
Joseph Stiglitz on the causes of the current crisis
Posted by manicbeancounter on January 5, 2012
http://manicbeancounter.com/2012/01/05/joseph-stiglitz-on-the-causes-of-the-current-crisis/
Prejudiced economic analysis in South Manchester
Have responded to a letter in the South Manchester Reporter of 3rd June. GM’s letter of last week is prejudiced against a small minority and ignorant of economics. The need to cut is mostly due to the government running up a deficit during the boom years, and then going on a wild spending spree to try [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on June 7, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/06/07/prejudiced-economic-analysis-in-south-manchester/
Inflation – How NOT to eradicate the deficit.
Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman makes a sensible comparison of the debt crisis in Britain with Greece in the New York Times. His major error to say that an advantage for Britain of retaining its own currency is in possessing the ability to reduce its real debt levels through inflation. However, to do so could be quite [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on May 1, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/05/01/inflation-how-not-to-eradicate-the-deficit/
Risk, Volcanic Ash, Regulation and the Leaders debate 2
John Redwood today makes some brilliant observations on “Bash the banks and Praise the Regulators”. His comparison with the ash cloud and the banking regulation is particularly apt. But it is not just the cost of inappropriate regulation that there is a similarity. The leaders’ debate of tonight showed crystallised the issue for me. It [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on April 22, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/04/22/risk-volcanic-ash-regulation-and-the-leaders-debate-2/
Labour bashing business to save facing their awful reality
John Redwood wonders when the Labour Party will stop attacking business. Not this side of the election and perhaps never is the simple answer. This war with business started with blaming the banks for the current crisis. In the Labour view their wild excesses created the crisis, and so must be now tightly regulated [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on April 4, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/04/04/labour-bashing-business-to-save-facing-their-awful-reality/
The Economic Legacy of Labour – A Summary for the Tories
Thirteen years of Labour has increased the National Debt by £600bn or £10,000 for every person in this country. How is this worked out? A prudent government would have kept the National Debt at a constant level of GDP in the boom years. From 2001 to 2007, Labour let this grow by around 15% of GDP. [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on March 22, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/03/22/the-economic-legacy-of-labour-a-summary-for-the-tories/
The Impact of Labour on the Current Crisis
UPDATE 11th APRIL – I WAS RIGHT IN SAYING THAT THIS WAS TOO LOW AN ESTIMATE. IN THE BUDGET REPORT NATIONAL DEBT REACHES OVER 91% OF GDP, NOT 87% AS MODELLED HERE. John Redwood today claimed that “Labour governments typically devalue the currency, run out of money, and preside over industrial chaos. Welcome to the [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on March 21, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/03/21/the-impact-of-labour-on-the-current-crisis/
Nationwide and Halifax house price recovery is fragile
The recovery in house prices reported in the Nationwide and Halifax indices underlies a significant issue – that many existing borrowers would see a much higher rate of interest if they moved mortgages. As an example, my own repayment mortgage is currently 1.9% annual interest rat, or 1.4% above base rate. If I moved house Nationwide’s best [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on October 6, 2009
http://manicbeancounter.com/2009/10/06/nationwide-and-halifax-house-price-recovery-is-fragile/
Financial Regulators are as fallible as the rest of us
John Redwood, in defence of the banker’s, asked whether the regulator’s in the part four years has engaged in socially useless activity. Unusually, I came to the defence of the regulator. Regulators, even if nominally independent, work within the current political & economic climate. They would not have called for increasing capital requirements during the [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on September 23, 2009
http://manicbeancounter.com/2009/09/23/financial-regulators-are-as-fallible-as-the-rest-of-us/
Socialist Economics
Tim Worstall has a blog today on the socialist calculation problem. Here he concentrates on the impossibility of collating the data necessary for inputting into computers. This is the only a part of the problem. 1. The Relevancy Problem Mises said (in Human Action). “Knowledge is about the past, decision is about the [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on July 6, 2009
http://manicbeancounter.com/2009/07/06/socialist-economics/
