Here I offer a few reactions to some of the comments that President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney made about energy policy in their debate last night.
Against a Sea of Enemies: China as Currency Manipulator
One of the interesting things about the presidential debate tonight was the prominence of China. Governor Romney repeated his insistence that he would declare China a currency manipulator “on day one”. (I am surprised he didn’t mention the “yellow peril”.) If his criterion is forex intervention, he should be prepared to declare many other countries manipulators as well.
China and the Middle Income Trap
Fated to a big trend slowdown?
If You Want Faster Growth…
From the Foreign Policy survey: The Economy (released today):
Update on Iran sanctions
The boycott of Iran has been more successful than I had anticipated, with Iranian oil production and exports down significantly from a year ago.
Watergate! Iran-Contra! BLS 2012.10.5?
Paranoia and Conspiracy Theory in a Time of Excel
Governor Brown solves California’s gas price problem
Though the record gasoline prices paid by Californians last week received national attention, it was from the beginning strictly a California problem.
International Finance and Open Economy Macro
Michael Hutchison, Professor of Economics at UC Santa Cruz, and Helen Popper, Professor of Economics at Santa Clara University, have organized the West Coast Workshop on International Finance and Open Economy Macroeconomics, taking place on Friday, October 19th. Those interested in thinking in a serious fashion about international should take a look.
California gas price spike
Californians who bought gasoline on Friday experienced an unpleasant shock.
Average Monthly Employment Growth Revised Up
With the September employment release, average monthly employment figures over the last four months is 120.5 thousand, versus the three month average as of the August release of 94 thousand. Furthermore, taking into account the preliminary benchmark revision for March 2012, one sees that not only is the trajectory higher, so too is the level of employment.