Author Archives: admin

1. Eurozone breakup is bullish. The conventional wisdom sees eurozone breakup as calamitous. This view has even been supported by scholars who should know better. In my private discussions with “2nd tier” scholars (i.e. people well below the radar), our only conclusion is that these high-profile scholars are trapped. They’re in a predicament familiar to […]

This image and the text that follows are taken from Erik Hancock’s proposal to the Terreform ONE design competition for creating productive green space in cities, sponsored by the City of New York Parks and Recreation office and the American Society of Landscape Architects. This part of his proposal is called ‘Reconsidering the American strip mall‘ […]

Indicator Change between 2009 and 2010, % row variable proxy Greece Ireland Italy Portugal Spain a Growth outlook real-effective exchange rate* -0.3 -6.9 -3.6 -2.5 -2.7 b Primary budget primary budget/GDP** 6.3 -2.0 0.1 2.0 2.4 c Continent liabilities house prices*** -4.3 -15 -0.3 1.6 -1.0 d Political pressure unemployment rate** 3.0 1.1 0.4 0.8 […]

USA: Real-effective exchange rate I’m just astonished at the tripe which passes for sensible economic commentary right now. Take the WSJ 2011 outlook piece from 26 December. It ran in my city’s paper as part of a regular WSJ mini-edition, as it no doubt does in many city papers across the country. The author tells […]

What would you say if more and more countries were being struck by the financial markets’ lack of confidence? You know. The bond markets are selling off. Depositors are leaving the banks. Not from caprice — from genuine worry. Worry over the high indebtedness of the private and/or sovereign sector. The poor growth outlook, thanks […]

Currency union requires the abandonment of a great deal more sovereignty than has so far taken place in the euro-area. They haven’t had to abandon sovereignty much yet because the zone has not significantly been tested till now. There is a reason why the US states were eventually relieved of the ability to run budget […]

Breathe deeply: we are not headed for monetary chaos. We do not need to return to the gold standard. The story of money is one of evolution; the gold standard came along at a specific point in that journey. We have outgrown it — in practice. Psychologically, its grip is likely to be rather more […]

The article is freely available on the EIU website.

From domestic critics to foreign governments, Ben Bernanke is taking heat for QE2. At the centre of domestic criticism is fear that the Federal Reserve’s endlessly growing balance sheet can only end in tears. Also unhappy are US trade partners and emerging markets whose domestic interest rates make their currencies irresistible to US and other rich-world investors. […]

source: OECD, open-thinking.com Global growth has experienced what economists call a ‘structural break’: the centre of growth is moving steadily toward final demand in the developing world. This is a profound change. Unlike most episodes of broad growth in middle- and low-income economies, the developing world’s growth today is not limited to one region. It […]