Seth Klarman’s work is to take money from clients and invest it. Yet, he made news recently by returning some $4 billion back to his clients. He did not want to invest their money. Why would he do such a thing when it is his job to invest money? He says the market is not […]
In a recent post, I mentioned a blog post by Nate Silver which I hadn’t managed to google. It is here Models Based on ‘Fundamentals’ Have Failed at Predicting Presidential Elections I think this is a serious effort worthy of publication in a top political science journal (not that anyone asked me). Silver attempted to […]
When [U.S. Solicitor General Donald] Verrilli said the Court has never found a right to exercise religion for corporations, Alito wondered if there was something wrong with the corporate form that it would not be accorded religion freedom rights. Did Verrilli agree, Alito said, with a lower court’s view that the only reason for a […]
Mark Thoma is absolutely correct when he writes… “The wealthy think it’s the same — in their minds they are the job creators, what’s good for the wealthy is good for America! — but it’s not.” This is where I have to ask the question… So if loose monetary policy is good for the wealthy, […]
by Joseph Joyce (is a Professor of Economics at Wellesley College and the Faculty Director of the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs) Too Much of a Good Thing? Global banks do not have much to cheer about these days. Earnings are falling, and the banks are responding by cutting jobs. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has […]
It’s always the same map. Here from Brad Delong is the map of the percentage who were slave by county in 1861 here is the corresponding area of a map of intergenerational relative income mobility by county from R Chetty 2014 (warning pdf) update: link updated thanks to Amanda. thanks
by Robert Waldmann What is the Opposite of a Weasel Word ? I need a metaphor and no one is answering at metaphor customer service. I need a nuancing partner for weasel word. A weasel word is a qualifier which makes a statement so weak it is unfalsifiable without making it sound like “I don’t […]
There are quite a few shifts happening in the global and domestic economy. I have been observing for the past week. So many people are getting confused. Here is a list of concerns… China is slowing down. Some emerging markets are facing capital outflows and are tempted to raise their central bank interest rates. Argentina […]
The misconceptions embodied in this post’s headline sow more confusion in economic discussions than any others. “Saving” and “Savings” seem like simple concepts, but they’re not. They have many different meanings, and their different usages (often implicit or unconscious) make coherent understanding and discussion impossible — even, often, in writings by those who have otherwise […]
by Spencer England Last week Kevin Erdmann at the idiosyncratic whisk blog published this chart to demonstrate how minimun wages have caused teen employment to suffer. It is an interesting chart, but it suffers from the sin of omitted variables. I constantly see similar charts from those opposing the minimum wage were they seem to […]