Let me add my enthusiastic endorsement of the choice of Ben Bernanke to replace Alan Greenspan for chair of the Federal Reserve Board to the positive support earlier expressed at Marginal Revolution, the Big Picture, New Economist, Economist’s View, and Angry Bear.
Ford joins the club
Having commented on a number of occasions about General Motors’ woes, and striving to be an Equal Opportunity PunditTM, it’s only fair to give credit where credit is due. Ford this week showed that it can compete with the best of them in terms of losing money,
posting a loss on its North American operations of $1.2 billion for the third quarter and $2.4 billion over the last 15 months. I’m not sure what advice to give Ford. But here’s what I think we might expect from U.S. policy makers.
Oil supply: trying to digest some of the recent developments
Here I report on some new data on the intermediate-term prospects for oil supply
Here and there around the web
Catching my eye here and there around the web: latest housing indicators may not be as bullish as they seem, what to make of all the indictments, price-gouging is all-American, and more insights into fuel use per dollar of GDP.
Is the trade deficit set to stabilize as import prices rise?
Some thoughts on the latest trade price data.
GM losses and other economic news
No matter how amazing your accomplishments, it’s always nice to try to set your goals even higher. I was pretty impressed when General Motors managed to lose $1.2 billion on its North American operations in the second quarter of this year. But yesterday GM announced it had outdone even this, losing $1.6 billion on its North American operations in the third quarter.
How important is saving?
Tyler Cowen of
Marginal Revolution (along with a number of my own readers) has asked about
this statement by Michael Mandel:
Inflation’s back?
Does today’s CPI release indicate that inflation has returned?
Whither the dollar?
What the interest differentials say
Stagflation
Do recent energy shocks mean we might see a replay of the 1970’s stagflation? I believe not, and here’s why.