Macroeconomic Updates

Here are the Powerpoint slides I used during my lunchtime speech at the Northeast Business and Economics Association meeting in Worcester, MA on Nov 7, 2009. We had a great discussion following the presentation on a wide variety of topics including the importance of getting our students to see the connections between finance and [...]

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Last week the leaders of the Group of Twenty met in Pittsburgh with the goal reforming the global economy to “meet the needs of the 21st century…”  So how did they do?  Here are my thoughts.  Please feel free to add your own.
Point of clarification: Geithner’s four pillars are: IMF, World Bank, WTO [...]

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In 1994 Paul Krugman wrote an article in Foreign Affairs that questioned the idea of the “Asian Economic Miracle.”  Krugman simplified that argument made by Alwyn Young and others that the economic growth in Southeast Asia was driven by capital investment and increased labor force participation and NOT by total factor productivity.  What this means [...]

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This week the Obama Administration will formally lay out its so-called “reform” of financial market regulation.  Early reports tell us the “reforms” will be little more than what is already being discussed in Congress:

an attempt to hold loan originators to be more accountable by requiring them to hold 5% of the credit risk of [...]

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This is in response to my former student “Jerry” who posted a response on the McCombs Today blog. “Jerry” wants me to “take a stand” on the bailout and to “tell what you (meaning me) would do otherwise to instill confidence and get us back on track. And or what you (again, meaning [...]

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