I was interested to take a look at the trends in receipts and expenditures of the U.S. federal government over the last 40 years.
Guest Contribution: “Sticky Prices, Store-Switching, and Effective Price Flexibility”
Today, we are fortunate to have a guest contribution written by Olivier Coibion (UT Austin), Yuriy Gorodnichenko (UC Berkeley), and Gee Hee Hong (Bank of Canada); it is based on The Cyclicality of Sales, Regular and Effective Prices: Business Cycle and Policy Implications.
The Ryan Plan and bipartisan compromise
I have a dream.
Romney Campaign on the Tax Policy Center study: “Objective, Third-Party Analysis”
Or, he was for the Tax Policy Center before he was against the Tax Policy Center, and how to assess think tank research.
Recent developments in oil markets
The price of Brent crude oil fell $35/barrel between April and June. But increases this summer have taken about $25 of that back.
Central Bank Balance Sheets and Inflation
Given several prominent policymakers have worried about central bank actions leading to high inflation, (e.g. Representative Ryan) it seems reasonable to see how expansions in central bank balance sheets correlate with inflation.
How long can Japanese bond prices defy gravity?
That’s the question posed in an interesting new paper by UCSD Professor Takeo Hoshi and University of Tokyo Professor Takatoshi Ito.
Representative Paul Ryan’s Economic Weltanschauung
Recapping my analyses of his budgetary and macroeconomic views, including supply side, interest and inflation rates, and command of economic history.
Guest Contribution: Innocent Bystanders? Monetary Policy in the U.S. and Inequality
Today, we are fortunate to have a guest contribution written by Olivier Coibion (UT Austin) [interviewed here by Prakash Loungani], Yuriy Gorodnichenko (UC Berkeley), Lorenz Kueng (Northwestern) and John Silvia (Wells Fargo); it is based on IMF Working Paper No. 199
Non-Government GDP and Employment: Revisiting Lazear’s Comparative Analyses
Reader Peter Schaeffer writes in comments to my rebuttal to Ed Lazear that demonstrates that ex-defense GDP growth is higher under the Obama administration than during the comparable period of the G.W. Bush administration: