Dreams of Gerontius
byDemographics, productivity & the great central bank fallacy of interest rate determination Summary As we go to press, the Mighty Oz’s and Grand Panjandrums…
Markets
Maths versus magic
by“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” George Carlin. If investors were…
Boom
by“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” Aldous Huxley. There’s a telling quotation in Howard Marks’ latest memo to…
Why economists cannot forecast recessions
byThe purpose of this article is to draw the widest attention to the chronic inability of the economic establishment to forecast recessions. Next time…
Popularity is overrated
by“Remember what has happened. In an unnecessary referendum, a small majority chose an option they could not understand, because it had not been worked…
Simple and Meaningful Ways to Change American Health Care
byRam Nagarajan is an MBA graduate from the University of Chicago who believes in individual liberty, limited government and a market based approach to…
The ‘Free Market Multiplier Effect’
byOne of the basic concepts taught in first-year university economics classes around the world is the intuitively powerful though regularly abused ‘multiplier effect’. The…
Political Planning versus Personal Planning by Everyone
byIn politics everyone has a plan. A plan to “fix” the health care problem. A plan to “protect” the environment. A plan to “guarantee”…
Trumped or Stumped? The tax cut, the debt ceiling and riding the gravy train
byA corporate tax cut from 35% to 15% will cost US$200bln/annum A Border Adjustment Tax could raise US$100bln/annum The boost to GDP growth is…
Benn Steil: RMB Globalization, Once “Unstoppable,” Heads Into Reverse
by“The globalisation of the [Chinese RMB] seems remorseless and unstoppable,” the Economist pronounced in April 2014. A year later, a research-grant foundation asked me…