Ronald MacDonald (Glasgow) concludes that a currency union will not work for Scotland. From The Guardian:
Reading Macro Data: Growth Rates, Annual Rates, Data Breaks
Newcomers to macro often encounter problems in interpreting and using data. The first is how to report growth rates, particularly when trying to assess the current state of the economy. The second is how to read data reported at annual vs. quarterly vs. monthly rates. The third is accounting for the presence of breaks in data collection. (This post primarily for students in Econ 435 and Public Affairs 854.)
Other perspectives on the new bond market conundrum
The ECB Does QE/CE
From Simon Kennedy in “Draghi Sees Almost $1 Trillion Stimulus With No QE Fight” (Bloomberg):
Mario Draghi signaled at least 700 billion euros ($906 billion) of fresh aid for his moribund economy and left a fight with Germany over sovereign-bond purchases for another day.
Low Long Term Rates to Stay?
As I begin teaching finance in the new semester, I am highlighting the key puzzle of our times, discussed by Jim in his last post, with this graph:
Bond market conundrum redux
As the U.S. economy returns to healthier growth, many of us expected long-term interest rates to return to more normal historical levels. But the general trend has been down since the end of the Great Recession. The 10-year rate did jump back up in the spring of 2013. But during most of this year it has been falling again.
Quantitative Implications of Wisconsin Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
No succor from the QCEW series that the Walker Administration previously touted [1]
Wisconsin Forecasted to Lag Further Behind Minnesota
And Kansas travels its own path
“U.K. Wants EU to Block Russia From SWIFT Banking Network”
From Bloomberg::
The U.K. will press European Union leaders to consider blocking Russian access to the SWIFT banking transaction system under an expansion of sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, a British government official said.
Russian Forces in Ukraine
Edit/update 8/30:
T72BM (only known to be in service in the Russian army) in Ukraine, 8/26. Source: IISS