Econbrowser is pleased to host this guest contribution from UCSD Ph.D. candidate Ben Fissel, who shares a quick estimate of the economic damage from the Gulf oil spill.
Author Archives: James_Hamilton
The sluggish recovery
This week we received more evidence confirming that the U.S. economy has returned to positive, but still disappointing, growth.
Where would we be without offshore oil?
As oil continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, I thought it might be helpful to review how we got where we are today.
The recession is over
That’s the big take-away from today’s report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis that the seasonally adjusted real value of the nation’s production of goods and services grew at a 3.2% annual rate during the first quarter of 2010. But the details behind today’s report suggest that the recovery so far remains pretty weak by historical standards.
Why Adam ate the apple
In my last post, I discussed how the run-up of U.S. mortgage debt during the last decade was funded. One important element was the sale of commercial paper that helped fund the purchase of some mortgage-related securities. Here I comment on why it was hard for some institutions to resist buying that commercial paper.
Follow the money
What happened to housing and financial markets over the last decade? To find out, follow the money.
Improving the fuel efficiency of U.S. light vehicles
I recently highlighted grounds for pessimism about the ease with which the U.S. could significantly change our oil consumption habits. Here I highlight some interesting new research by U.C. Davis economics professor Christopher Knittel which offers a more optimistic assessment.
Consumers get more pessimistic
The Reuters/Michigan index of consumer sentiment tumbled four points in April. Could just be measurement noise, or could be that something new is pressing down on consumers.
Granger causality
Hal Varian passes along this amusing result if you query Google Insights for Search for searches on “mixed drinks” and “hangovers.”
More on oil prices and the economic recovery
On Saturday I commented on whether
rising oil prices threaten the economic recovery. Here are some quick links to perspectives from other observers.