It’s very clear that two things have to happen from here. First, Greece needs relief from its mountain of debt, and second, the country needs to find a way to become more competitive economically.
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Author Archives: James_Hamilton
Anil Kashyap on the Greek crisis
University of Chicago Professor Anil Kashyap has a helpful summary of the Greek financial crisis.
Our distant neighbors
There’ve been some stunning pictures recently sent back from distant parts of our solar system which I wanted to share.
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Renegotiating Greece’s debt
Here are my thoughts on options for handling Greece’s debt.
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The bailouts of 2007-2009
The latest issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives had a very interesting symposium on the costs and benefits of the various bailouts implemented during the Great Recession.
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Ten years of Econbrowser
Last week marked the tenth anniversary of Econbrowser. That gives me an occasion to talk a little about why I started the blog and what we’ve accomplished with it.
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Current economic conditions: not as bad as it sounds
On Friday the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its second estimate of U.S. 2015:Q1 real GDP growth. The BEA now estimates that the economy contracted at a 0.7% annual rate rather than grew 0.2% as originally estimated. The number is discouraging, though I see some silver linings.
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Gasoline prices and consumer sentiment
U.S. retail gasoline prices last week averaged over $2.80 a gallon, thirty cents higher than a month ago. The preliminary University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment for May was 88.6, down 7 points from the month before. Are these two developments related?
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UCSD Chancellor’s Associates Award
I was recently honored to receive the UCSD Chancellor’s Associates Award for Excellence in Research and Social Sciences. Here’s a video they made for the event.
Energy prices and consumer spending
Among the disappointments in the 2015:Q1 GDP figures was weak consumption growth, which was a little surprising given the extra cash most consumers have on hand as a result of lower energy prices. I wanted to take a look at how the recent consumer behavior compares with what we’ve seen historically.
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