Americana
- Understanding Income Volatility DUNCAN CURRIE 10/07/2008
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Statistician Shane T. Jensen of Wharton and economist Stephen H. Shore of Johns Hopkins offer some fascinating insights.
- ‘What Caused the Financial Crisis?’ DUNCAN CURRIE 10/07/2008
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Economist Tyler Cowen discusses four major factors.
- Crisis Management DUNCAN CURRIE 10/06/2008
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Economist Gary Becker and Judge Richard Posner discuss the financial bailout.
- The Big Mac Barometer DUNCAN CURRIE 10/03/2008
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“McDonald’s iconic hamburger is a tiny bit of the world economy, but it’s often used as a rough gauge of relative prices across countries,” writes Anthony Landry, an economist at the Dallas Fed. “Since 1986, The Economist magazine has been publishing a Big Mac Index, comparing the hamburger’s international prices. The index shows how much Big Mac prices vary from one country to the next. What’s less well known is the extent to which Big Mac prices diverge across the U.S., regions, Texas and even Dallas. The reasons for the disparities help us sort out how international, national, regional and local factors shape prices—at least for one product.”
Read the whole thing.
- Dubai Slows Down DUNCAN CURRIE 10/03/2008
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Una Galani reports that “Dubai has caught the credit cold.”
- The Roots of the Subprime Crisis DUNCAN CURRIE 10/03/2008
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Columbia Business School economist Charles Calomiris, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, examines “the origins of the subprime turmoil, and the way the financial system has responded to it.”
- ‘Drama Queens and Kings’ DUNCAN CURRIE 10/03/2008
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Gerard Baker tackles some of the “overarching myths” about the financial crisis.
- ’08 and ’87 DUNCAN CURRIE 10/01/2008
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Over at National Review Online, Jay Nordlinger has a post about comparisons between today’s financial turmoil and the 1987 market crash.
In the September/October 2007 issue of THE AMERICAN, Matthew Rees revisited “Black Monday” and tried to explain just what caused it.
- Rebuilding in Minneapolis DUNCAN CURRIE 10/01/2008
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Ed Morrissey comments on “the primary lesson of the St. Anthony Bridge rebuild.”
- Stopping the Bleeding DUNCAN CURRIE 10/01/2008
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More analysis and coverage of the financial crisis and the bailout debate from Peter Wallison and Charles Calomiris, John Makin, David Rogers, Jay Cost, George Will, Brian Wesbury, Larry Kudlow, Holman Jenkins, Steve Malanga, Edmund Phelps, Nicole Gelinas, Tyler Cowen, Lawrence Lindsey, and Ruthie Ackerman.
- Can McCain Bounce Back? DUNCAN CURRIE 09/30/2008
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James Pethokoukis analyzes the politics of the financial crisis and explains “how McCain can mount a comeback.”
- Farewell to The New York Sun DUNCAN CURRIE 09/30/2008
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From Bloomberg News:
“The New York Sun publishes its final edition today after failing to raise the capital needed to extend the newspaper’s six-year, money-losing run.
“The Sun, started in 2002 as a conservative alternative to the New York Times, is shutting down, spokesman Michael Moi said yesterday in a telephone interview. The newspaper, funded by investors including Bruce Kovner and Michael Steinhardt, needed ‘tens of millions’ of dollars to cover losses, top editor Seth Lipsky said on Sept. 4—even after the original backers agreed to provide additional cash.
“The Sun was seeking to raise money during a credit crisis that has stymied fundraising and led to the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Washington Mutual Inc. The newspaper, competing against the Times and the Wall Street Journal in the New York market, made gains in print advertising sales in recent years, Lipsky said this month. Industry ad revenue has posted record declines this year.
“Lipsky didn’t return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment. He broke the news to employees yesterday and read to them a letter that will appear on today’s front page, the New York Observer reported, citing an unnamed staff member.
“The Sun, published five days a week, has a print readership of 113,300 in Manhattan and 2 million unique Internet visitors a month, according to its media kit for advertisers posted online.”
To read excerpts of Lipsky’s remarks to the staff, go here. The Wall Street Journal editorial page has published a short tribute to the Sun, which can be found here.
- The Deregulation Canard DUNCAN CURRIE 09/30/2008
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AEI scholar Peter Wallison explains what really caused the financial meltdown.
- Mad Money, Mad Voters DUNCAN CURRIE 09/30/2008
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Where do the financial bailout negotiations go from here? What should Congress do? For a diverse mix of commentary and reporting, read Brian Wesbury and Bob Stein, Jane Sasseen and Theo Francis, Alison Fitzgerald and Matthew Benjamin, John Brinsley and Rebecca Christie, Jeffrey Miron, Jerry Bowyer, Vinny Catalano, Daniel Gross, the Washington Post editorial page, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, and the editors of National Review.
- The Failure of Norway’s Carbon Tax DUNCAN CURRIE 09/30/2008
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From The Wall Street Journal:
“In 1991, Norway became one of the first countries in the world to impose a stiff tax on harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Since then, the country’s emissions should have dropped. Instead, they have risen by 15%.
“Although the tax forced Norway’s oil and gas sector to become among the greenest in the world, soaring energy prices led to a boom in offshore production, which in turn boosted overall emissions. So did drivers. Norwegians, who already pay nearly $10 a gallon, took the tax in stride, buying more cars and driving them more. And numerous industries won exemptions from the tax, carrying on unchanged.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this way. By making it more expensive to pollute, carbon taxes should spur companies and individuals to clean up. Norway’s sobering experience shows how difficult it is to cut emissions in the real world, where elegant theoretical solutions are complicated by economic changes, entrenched behaviors and political realities.”
- Charm City Pioneers NICK SCHULZ 09/29/2008
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It’s worth keeping an eye on Baltimore this week as it rolls out a new citywide broadband platform, WiMax. It remains to be seen how popular the service (developed by Sprint, Intel and others) will be. But it is further evidence that competition in the telecom sphere is strong and yields significant innovation in technology and experimentation in business models. Indeed, further innovations are in store over the next five years, as Verizon, AT&T, and others are already experimenting with a next-generation platform called LTE that they hope will improve service at lower cost. The winners? Consumers.
- ‘The Problem from Hell’ DUNCAN CURRIE 09/26/2008
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Australian commentator Greg Sheridan has written a sobering piece on Iran.
- Deal or No Deal? DUNCAN CURRIE 09/26/2008
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As we wait for news from Capitol Hill, Reuven Brenner, Sebastian Mallaby, John M. Berry, Charles Krauthammer, and The Economist are all worth reading.
- Don’t Forget About Iraq DUNCAN CURRIE 09/26/2008
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The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post editorial pages both take note of significant political progress in Iraq.
- The Return of Japan Inc. DUNCAN CURRIE 09/25/2008
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From the Associated Press:
“Back in the 1980s, when Japan found itself flush with unprecedented wealth, it splurged on flashy overpriced trophies like Rockefeller Center and the Pebble Beach Golf Links.
“It was a dizzying shopping spree that left little but a bad case of buyer’s regret as Japan’s asset bubble burst and markets crashed in the early 1990s.
“Japan’s mammoth banks retreated from the limelight, weighed down by mountains of bad loans.
“But in 2008, Japan Inc. is making a comeback.
“Mindful of the painful lessons of the past, Japan’s financial heavyweights are venturing aggressively abroad again, on the hunt for smart deals in the wake of a historic Wall Street shake-up.”
- The Celtic Tiger Stops Roaring DUNCAN CURRIE 09/25/2008
- The Great Bailout Debate DUNCAN CURRIE 09/25/2008
- Market Mayhem DUNCAN CURRIE 09/24/2008
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More sharp commentary on the Wall Street meltdown from Holman Jenkins, Steve Malanga, James Pethokoukis, Donald Luskin, Amity Shlaes, Harvey Pitt, Robert Samuelson, Tyler Cowen, and Arnold Kling.
- The Wall Street Mess DUNCAN CURRIE 09/22/2008
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Looking for a smart take on the financial crisis? Read Jim Manzi, Niall Ferguson, Rosemary Righter, Sebastian Mallaby, Lawrence Lindsey, Yves Smith, and The Wall Street Journal editorial page.
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In a new paper, Labour MP and former UK minister for Europe Denis MacShane argues that “the democratic left in Europe faces its gravest crisis in more than half a century.” Writing in Dissent magazine, British journalist Robert Taylor says that “the demise of European social democracy has come suddenly and perhaps unexpectedly.”