The Martin Hutchinson Place
According to global purchasing power parity GDP data developed by Angus Maddison and others, the 16th and 17th centuries were the last so far of very slow GDP growth per capita, with the century 1550-1650 probably showing a slight decline in living standards. When Maddison produced his estimates in 2004, it appeared that those days […]
Moore’s Law is responsible for many of the defects in today’s quality of life. Whereas a typical U.S.1950s appliance – say, a Maytag washing machine — lasted for 30 or 40 years without major repairs, modern electronic gadgetry is lucky if it survives intact until its third birthday. With Moore’s Law slowing gently to a […]
According to the Financial Times, the major international investment banks are cutting their spending on “quants” and their mathematical risk management models by about 40% from the current average of $100-150 million annually per bank. The regulators no longer give a risk capital allocation benefit for banks with “sophisticated” truly incomprehensible modeling systems, so there […]
As I have discussed recently in this column, the world’s adoption of ultra-low “funny money” interest rate policies over a number of years has caused productivity growth to slow markedly, and in the most extreme case of Japan, to go into reverse. Since we appear unlikely to change interest rate policies in the near future, […]
It appears that the U.S. electorate in November will be faced with a Hobson’s Choice between two alternatives: a protectionist nationalist who will raise trade barriers and make the nation poorer versus a regulating environmentalist Keynesian who will equally impoverish the country and indeed the world in general. All over the world, political choices are […]
Writing in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Peter Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute argued that world growth was excessively subdued because Dodd-Frank and other repressive financial regulations were preventing bankers from taking risks. I agree entirely with Wallison’s detestation of regulation, and admire his previous analyses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s contribution […]
Goldman Sachs announced this week that it was to offer consumer savings accounts over the Internet, with a minimum of $1. It’s not a bad marketing idea; no doubt a “Bank of Dr. Evil” branded savings account would also go well. It appears to indicate that Goldman’s confidence in its core investment banking business is […]
Argentina’s $15 billion bond issue, engineered by their new market-friendly president Mauricio Macri, was four times oversubscribed and increased to $16.5 billion. The Brazilian Congress has voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, suggesting that leftist policies may be on their way out there, too. These events give hope to those still suffering under extreme leftism, […]
Two weeks ago, this column denounced central banks’ post-2008 policies because of their effect on savers and savings. This week I will demonstrate an entirely different result of their feckless policies: a deep decline in productivity growth, in all markets where their foolishness has manifested itself. There is not enough criticism of this insanity, […]
In two months, Britain will vote on whether to leave the European Union. If it votes for “Brexit” there must be some chance that other EU members will follow it, either partially or completely dissolving the union that for good or ill has been the central thrust of postwar Europe. It’s worth trying to imagine […]