Category Archives: Uncategorized

China has a remarkably high savings rate in a typical year–and sometimes its higher than that. In fact, the main reason for China’s high trade surpluses is that with such a high savings rate, China doesn’t consume either a lot of imports or domestically produced goods. A reason that China can invest so much, yearContinue reading “China’s High Savings Rate”

But those with medium-term memories will remember that a scandal erupted around LIBOR in 2010. But you may not know that as a result, LIBOR is probably going to disappear in the next few years to be replaced by SOFR. Since several hundred trillion dollars of financial contracts will be different as a result, it’sContinue reading “SOFR Replaces LIBOR”

The Aspen Institute Economic Study Group has published a collection of 12 papers on the theme Expanding Economic Opportunity for More Americans Bipartisan Policies to Increase Work, Wages, and Skills, edited by Melissa S. Kearney and Amy Ganz (February 2019). I’ll list the complete Table of Contents for the volume below. Here, I’ll just focusContinue reading “Some Proposals for Improving Work, Wages, and Skills for Americans”

Here’s an op-ed piece by me that was published on the editorial page of the local Star Tribune newspaper yesterday, February 17. __________________ Capitalism with Scandinavian characteristicsWhat it is, why it’s not socialism, and what we in the U.S. might be surprised to learn about it. By TIMOTHY TAYLOR MAGNUS LAUPA � NEW YORK TIMESOutsideContinue reading “Capitalism with Scandinavian Characteristics”

The idea of a pay-what-you-can restaurant raises obvious questions. Could it sustain itself? Or would those paying more than face value be swamped by those paying less? Are there ways of running such a venture that might be more sustainable than others? The question arises because the Panera company starting in 2010 ran a groupContinue reading “Thinking about Pay-What-You-Can Restaurants”

Eric Wallach offers “An Interview with Deidre McCloskey, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Economics and of History, UIC” in The Politic, Yale’s undergraduate journal of politics and culture (February 10, 2019).  McCloskey is characteristically thought-provoking and quotable. Here are a few comments of her many comments that caught my eye: “Liberty is liberty, and is meaninglessContinue reading “Interview with Deidre McCloskey on Economic Growth and Liberal Values:”

Guilds played an important role in the economies of Europe from about the 11th century up through the 16th century, and a continuing if less important role up into the 19th century. Sheilagh Ogilvie, the go-to economic historian on this subject, has a new book out called The European Guilds: An Economic Analysis (published by PrincetonContinue reading “Economics of Medieval Guilds”

The Great Recession from 2007-2009 represented a toxic mixture of failures by market participants and financial regulators. The Dodd�Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 patched some of the holes. but not nearly all of them. At least, that’s the conclusion I reach from a three-paper “Symposium on Financial Stability Regulation” inContinue reading “Why US Financial Regulators Are Unprepared for the Next Financial Crisis”

“Passive” labor market policies involve paying money to the unemployed, like with unemployment insurance. “Active” labor market policies involve a range of programs to assist the unemployed with finding jobs. In both categories, the US has long lagged well behind other high-income countries. Chad P. Bown and Caroline Freund review the evidence in “Active LaborContinue reading “Building Connections with Active Labor Market Policies”

The US spends about 18% of GDP on health care. Other high-income countries spend an average of about 11%, Thus, the Society of Actuaries and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation have created Initiative 18/11 to consider ways of holding down US heath care spending. A first report from the initiative, “What Can We Do AboutContinue reading “How to Reduce Health Care Costs?”