I’ve written before about the dismal outlook for the western banks, suffering from overcapacity, increasing regulation and slow GDP growth (or continued contraction in the case of much of Europe). A new McKinsey report reinforces my pessimism. In particular McKinsey … Continued
It might seem straightforward to measure how much debt a government has. But it’s not that simple. First, we have to decide what is “debt”. We should obviously include debt securities and bank loans. But what about pension and insurance … Continued
One advantage of being an academic is that although you have no less work to do than people in “normal’ jobs, you have more choice of when to do it. So, after a long Sunday afternoon of marking, reviewing an … Continued
Since the definition of poverty is not having enough money, it might seem obvious that giving money to poor people is a good way to help them. But cash transfers, as they are known in the aid and development world, … Continued
I hadn’t ever wondered about why people save spare change in a pig-shaped china container. But the ever-interesting Federal Reserve Bank of New York blog Liberty Street has just told me. It seems that it originally had nothing to do … Continued
I make the point in classroom discussions of the US fiscal outlook that, simplifying only a little, the problem of US federal spending reduces to the problem of the US health care system. All rich countries face an increase in … Continued
Every country is unique but some are more unique than others. Japan, though quite obviously not located in the geographic western hemisphere, is part of “the west” as a group of rich democracies with advanced economies. Its inclusion is not … Continued