Professor Alan Gin’s index may be of interest to those of us wondering where California’s economy is headed and to anyone who might want to construct a similar index for their own local economy.
What is Chinese GDP really doing?
Amidst all the discussion about rampant Chinese GDP growth, the appropriate conduct of macro policy in restraining that growth, and the implications for the components of aggregate demand, a simple question leads to complicated answers.
Ethanol and food price volatility
If this is what we get in a good year, what will happen when we have a bad crop?
“We have always thought that America got away with something.”
Well, maybe not anymore. And perhaps not even before.
The quote is from an article on how the weak dollar is raising the costs of traveling to Europe, as the USD/EUR rate flirts with 1.40. The longer quote, from yesterday’s NYT article entitled “As Dollar Crumples, Tourists Overseas Reel”
, is:
Bernanke on the economic outlook
In testimony before the U.S. Congress yesterday, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke continued his policy of greater openness and transparency for Federal Reserve policy, trying to lay out clearly what the Fed is most worried about.
Iraq update
Expenditures continue to rise. More appropriations will likely be needed at this pace.
Is OPEC relevant?
Are OPEC’s recent decisions responsible for the current price of oil? I’m not persuaded that they are, and here’s why.
More on the Yuan and the Chinese Trade Balance
More speculation on the Yuan’s prospects. From Bloomberg:
More ideas on construction employment
Here are some of the thoughts from other analysts about why reported residential construction employment has not been plummeting.
Import prices surge…
…but mostly due to increasing oil prices.