Recent content by Integral

1) "Saving is bad for the macroeconomy." You already know why this statement is false, or at least false without further qualification. So please don't play dumb. 2a) You begin with, "the inherent giving nature of thrift, how the saver, until spending, is providing free labor..." which is fine...

Come on, Hygro. You're more intelligent than this.

So do you want me to specifically comment on the optimal size of the US public debt load (and perhaps its expected future path, say)? I wanna know the rules before I start busting out claims that I'll eventually have to defend. :p (And I know I'm a bit late, so feel free to chastise me if I...

Lots of good claims here. -- Back to the original question, which I'll broaden a bit to "What is wrong with US fiscal policy:" I'm not convinced that we're allocating that particular 20% of GDP efficiently.

Laurwin: There has been some change in how we measure inflation since the inauguration of the national statistics in 1913. The exact basket of goods measured changes slightly each year, and is updated with reference to the Consumer Expenditure Survey. As Americans' buying habits have changed...

The problem with the Fed is that the number of seats on the Board might exceed the number of people on the planet who really understand monetary economics. I'm only just starting to trawl through the 2008 transcripts. I'll report back if I see anything particularly interesting. Focus on the...

I have returned, in a vague and noncommittal sort of way. But it's good to see some familiar faces again (Cutlass! Hygro! Antilogic! Apparently downtown is having a kid!). I look forward to getting back into the forum format, which rewards longer posts and more sustained conversations than...

Wait, OT is back? Good thing I decided to peek in...

I'm in. 9/21 works as well as any.

:wavey: I think there are two questions here. One, the direct question: if the central bank hikes interest rates, what happens to inflation? The usual transmission mechanism is: interest rates rise, inducing less consumption, investment, etc, which induces less aggregate demand, which...

Reiinhart and Rogoff have a second response to their critics. I'm still sifting through the details. I have downloaded the data that the U Mass Amherst folks provided, but their analysis is in R which makes reproducibility difficult. (The raw data's in Excel, cleaned data's in Stata, the...

Thank you for the update. MGH and Brigham & Women's are two of the best hospitals in the nation, so the injured are in the best possible hands. @VR: Tufts Medical Center is one of the closest to the actual explosions.

Antilogic - good to see you safe. I'm alive, as are essentially everyone I know. I am waiting to hear from one person, but have good reason to think she wasn't near the explosion. Prayers to all.

I'm in!

I've only watched the first video. 1. He's not funny enough to pull of the cutesy style he's going for. 2. He throws a lot of claims out very quickly. It's hard to evaluate them all in real-time, but I'm not entirely happy with most of them. On the bright side, his discussion of foragers and...