Today Econbrowser hosts this guest contribution from Robert Pollin and Michael Ash of the Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Author Archives: James_Hamilton
Reinhart-Rogoff data problems
The methods and conclusions of an influential paper by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff published in 2010 have recently been challenged by Thomas Herndon, Michael Ash, and Robert Pollin. Here I comment on both the details and broader significance of the dispute.
Growing student debt
I was curious to take a look at the growing student debt load and the government’s exposure to potential repayment issues.
Who is holding all those U.S. dollars?
If recent trends continue, in a few months there will be $1.2 trillion in Federal Reserve notes (otherwise known as dollar bills) in circulation. Who is holding all these?
2013 Econbrowser NCAA tournament challenge
Despite much bracket-busting, the nation’s best college basketball team seems somehow to have emerged as winner of the 2013 men’s NCAA basketball tournament. Congratulations to Louisville, and congratulations to budwysor, who won the coveted championship of the 2013 Econbrowser NCAA tournament challenge, in part by picking not only Louisville as winner but also 5 of the last 8 teams standing. Thanks to all the others who participated. And if things didn’t go your way, there’s always next year!
Is the recovery dying?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the number of Americans with jobs only increased by 88,000 in March on a seasonally adjusted basis. That’s one of the weakest months in the last two years. Although it’s clearly a disappointment, I would caution against reading too much into the latest number.
The death of peak oil
“Peak oil is dead,” Rob Wile declared last week. Colin Sullivan says it has “gone the way of the Flat Earth Society”, writing
Those behind the theory appear to have been dead wrong, at least in terms of when the peak would hit, having not anticipated the rapid shift in technology that led to exploding oil and natural gas production in new plays and areas long since dismissed as dried up.
These comments inspired me to revisit some of the predictions made in 2005 that received a lot of attention at the time, and take a look at what’s actually happened since then.
Understanding the housing bubble
A key reason that I was insufficiently worried in 2005 about bad mortgage loans being made at the time was that the people who funded the loans– most importantly, the packagers and buyers of private-label mortgage-backed securities– had more motivation and resources to evaluate the risks accurately than I did. That they made an incredibly costly mistake is now indisputable. But the question remains, why?
Declining U.S. carbon dioxide emissions
Emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel consumption in the United States have fallen remarkably since 2008, with recent levels the lowest since 1995. Here I comment on some of the factors behind this.
2013 Econbrowser NCAA tournament challenge
Yes, it’s coming! The all new (well, actually it’s somewhat similar to last year’s) 2013 Econbrowser NCAA tournament challenge. Here we once again invite all Econbrowser readers to test your skill (or luck) at predicting the outcomes of the U.S. college mens’ basketball tournament. All you have to do is go to the Econbrowser group at ESPN, do some minor registering to create a free ESPN account if you haven’t used that site before, and fill in your bracket with who you think might be the winners of each game. Just be sure you complete your predictions before Thursday, because the Econbrowser group does not allow changes in your bracket after the tournament begins on Thursday. And be forewarned that some of the people who compete in the Econbrowser NCAA challenge really know what they’re doing!