The Grumpy Economist: Debt Maturity. Excellent financial advice for the US Treasury Department concerning the importance of taking advantage of (historically) low long term interest rates by lengthening the maturity structure of the federal government’s massive debt. As University of Chicago finance professor John Cochrane notes, “Our Government has taken the opposite tack. When you include the Fed (The Fed has bought up most of the recent long-term Treasury issues, in a deliberate move to shorten the maturity structure) the US rolls over about half its debt every two years.”
Category Archives: Economics
How to Fix the Debt Ceiling (A Bigger Threat than the Fiscal Cliff)
How to Fix the Debt Ceiling (A Bigger Threat than the Fiscal Cliff)
Quoting from this article from the The American (the online magazine of the American Enterprise Institute), “A default by the U.S. government is more potentially damaging than the fiscal cliff — and more easily avoidable, if Congress modernizes the debt ceiling.”
Foreign holdings of US debt hit $5.46 trillion
See today’s Houston Chronicle article entitled Foreign holdings of US debt hit $5.46 trillion”. Putting this number into perspective, this represents an increase over the past two years of roughly $1.26 trillion. As I document in my November 5, 2010 blog posting entitled “Political economy and the (inflationary) future“, foreign holdings of US debt two years ago stood at around $4.2 trillion.
For my friends out there who are data geeks, the US Treasury Department regularly updates information concerning foreign holdings of treasury securities (by country) at http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt.
The Terrifying Line in Obama’s (DNC) Speech That Everyone Missed
Quoting from the above referenced article (available at http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/090712-625080-terrifying-promise-obama-made-.htm), “Instead of stirring rhetoric filled with hope and promise, Obama pledged that under his leadership, “our path is harder” and “our road is longer.” Seriously? After four years of the worst economic recovery since the Depression, falling incomes, lower-paying jobs, increased hopelessness and exploding debt, all Obama has to offer is that he’ll make this nightmare last even longer?”
The Terrifying Line in Obama's (DNC) Speech That Everyone Missed
the above referenced article (available at http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/090712-625080-terrifying-promise-obama-made-.htm), “Instead of stirring rhetoric filled with hope and promise, Obama pledged that under his leadership, “our path is harder” and “our road is longer.” Seriously? After four years of the worst economic recovery since the Depression, falling incomes, lower-paying jobs, increased hopelessness and exploding debt, all Obama has to offer is that he’ll make this nightmare last even longer?” ]]>
Since 2009, right to work states created 4x as many jobs as forced union states and may have helped Obama’s re-election | AEIdeas
Since 2009, right to work states created 4x as many jobs as forced union states and may have helped Obama’s re-election.
Quoting from this article, “Since the recession ended in June 2009, almost three out of every four jobs added to U.S. payrolls have been in Right to Work states (1.86 million out of 2.59 million), even though those 22 states represent only 38.8% of the U.S. population (120 million). In contrast, only about one of every four new jobs were created in forced-unionism states (730,000), even though more than 61% of Americans live in those 28 states (189 million). Relative to their population, the Right to Work states have been job-creating powerhouses during the recovery, and forced union states haven’t even come close to “carrying their weight” in terms of their share of the population. Adjusting for differences in population, Right to Work states created four new jobs for every one job added in forced union states, because those 21 RTW states created 2.54 times more jobs even though forced union states have 1.6 times as many people.”
Since 2009, right to work states created 4x as many jobs as forced union states and may have helped Obama’s re-election | AEIdeas
Most in US won't be able to escape 'fiscal cliff'
Most in US won’t be able to escape ‘fiscal cliff’ according to an AP story published this morning. Also, the Wikipedia article about the fiscal cliff is worth reading (@ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_fiscal_cliff).]]>
Most in US won’t be able to escape ‘fiscal cliff’
Most in US won’t be able to escape ‘fiscal cliff’ according to an AP story published this morning.
Also, the Wikipedia article about the fiscal cliff is worth reading (@ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_fiscal_cliff).
Munger on John Locke, Prices, and Hurricane Sandy
Munger on John Locke, Prices, and Hurricane Sandy
“Mike Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the gas shortage following Hurricane Sandy and John Locke’s view of the just price. Drawing on a short, obscure essay of Locke’s titled “Venditio,” Munger explores Locke’s views on markets, prices, and morality.”