Many countries have three policy objectives: (1) being able to set their own monetary policy, in order to keep their own inflation and unemployment at desired levels; (2) having a stable exchange rate, in order to avoid disruptive shifts in exports or imports; and (3) allowing free capital flows, in order to help the country’s citizens and firms find the most efficient sources and uses of capital. But the famous policy trilemma of international economics claims that any country is going to be forced to give up on one of those three goals.
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Treasury Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Exchange Policies Released
The report, released yesterday, is here.
“Major Challenges for Global Macroeconomic Stability: The Role of the G7”
That was the title of a conference organized by Istituto Affari Internazionale (with support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Banca d’Italia) that I attended a couple of weeks ago in Rome.
Event Analysis: How Not to Conduct Public Relations
United Airlines had security drag a passenger off an airplane on Sunday. The CEO of United did not apologize until just a little while ago. Story and video here.
It’s apparent that the previous statement (discussion here) which did not include an apology was not having the desired effect.
Source: Reuters, accessed noon CST 11 April 2017.
Is China’s Currency Undervalued? A Reality Check
Short answer: maybe, but probably not.
“Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing? The President’s Trade Policies So Far”
That’s the title of my latest EconoFact memo.
First Year 2017: “The Uncertain Future of Globalization”
The First Year Project is a multi-year, non-partisan effort to (1) Examine the history and structure of presidential First Years, (2) Assess the policy opportunities and threats for our next President, and (3) Influence the national debate by addressing candidates, opinion leaders, and the public.
“The Future of the EU and Trans-Atlantic Relations”
That’s the topic of this year’s La Follette Spring Symposium, being held Thursday, April 6th at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Discovery Building, 330 N. Orchard Street, Madison).
Soft vs. Hard Data: US Economic Outlook Edition
Gavin Davies in the FT has an interesting article about how survey/sentiment based information and hard data have diverged. Here is a picture of US GDP, from the official BEA series (3rd release), Macroeconomic Advisers, and e-forecasting, as well as the Atlanta Fed nowcast.
Kansas Employment Rises to 0.3% below Previous Peak
Kansas nonfarm payroll employment rose 4,200 (0.3%) from January to February, and fell 400 (0%) relative to February 2016. In both cases the change was not statistically significant. In contrast, Missouri NFP rose 3,500 (0.1%) over the last month, and 54,000 (1.9%) over the last year.