Monetary Policy

February 16, 2014

What Can We Learn From Downton Abbey Economics?

Downton Abbey can tell us a lot about the British economy…but not everything. We know the aristocracy is struggling. Many of the 700 families who had […]

February 13, 2014

Problems With Grade Deflation

The number of hours we study is down and our grades are up. Between 1961 and 2003, full time college students diminished their study time from […]

November 28, 2011

The First Credit Default Swap

Some of the euro zone’s problems actually started with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez calamity, when an Alaska jury said that […]

November 20, 2011

California and Kentucky

Could we compare California’s relationship with Kentucky to Germany and Greece? Somewhat like Germany and Greece… California and Kentucky share the same currency. California has a […]

November 5, 2011

Leaving the Euro

Would you like to win 250,000 British pounds? Predicting that a nation’s euro zone exit would be catastrophic unless properly managed, a UK businessman has sponsored […]

November 2, 2011

Default Deja Vu

Between its independence in 1829 and 2006, Greece has had 5 defaults or debt reschedulings that occupied a total of 50.6 years.  Described by Rogoff and […]

October 28, 2011

Euro Deal Primer

To understand euro zone bailout plans, just think BBB. Bonds, Banks, Bailout The Bonds: If you own Greek debt, then you would be asked to accept […]

October 25, 2011

Greece and Argentina

Nobody wants Greece to become Argentina. It all began with what scholars Rogoff and Reinhart called the lending boom of the 1990s. Enjoying the influx of […]

October 22, 2011

A Surprising Deficit Worry

Who do you think is the biggest holder of U.S. government debt? The U.S. government. Whenever Social Security collects more payroll tax money than it needs, […]