Or why Ed Lazear should have heeded R&R a bit more.
From “Credit: A Starring Role in the Downturn,” by Òscar Jordà, based on an examination of 14 advanced economies over 140 years:
We are unlikely to learn how the United States will recover from the Great Recession by examining other post-World War II downturns. In the United States, the past six decades have completely lacked another financial event like the one experienced from 2007 to 2009. …
Quick links to a few items I found interesting.
So-so news, and how we can sustain net export growth
From BEA/Census:
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of
Commerce, announced today that total February exports of $181.2 billion and imports of $227.2
billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $46.0 billion, down from $52.5 billion in
January, revised. February exports were $0.2 billion more than January exports of $180.9 billion.
February imports were $6.3 billion less than January imports of $233.4 billion.
Professor Lazear on CNBC yesterday reiterates and unhedges his thesis that the causes of the 1980 and 1982 recessions are essentially the same as that of the 2007-09 recession.
The Wall Street Journal suggests today that part of the latest surge in China’s oil imports is attributable to a desire to boost the country’s oil stockpiles.
Following up on my post The Recovery According to Ed “We are not in a recession” Lazear
, reader Rick Stryker writes:
Lazear’s points are clear: 1) Real growth has been sub-par in this recovery compared to previous recoveries…
This point is clearly falsified by the graphs from the St. Louis Fed:
And the first three months of 2012 were also the warmest first quarter in the contiguous United States, according to NOAA.
Friday’s jobs report was unquestionably a disappointment. But other recent U.S. economic indicators are more encouraging.
In Tuesday’s WSJ, Edward Lazear argued that we are now experiencing the “Worst Economic Recovery in History”. Before dissecting this remarkable document, it would behoove the reader to recall that while he was Chair of George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, he stated unequivocally in May 2008 (also in the pages of the WSJ):
If an embargo is successful in preventing Iran from selling a significant amount of oil on the world market, what would replace it?