Author Archives: Yves Smith

Finance and Growth: The Direction of Causality

Too much finance is highly correlated with slower growth. But which comes first?

Links 1/17/17

Bill Black: Obama Loved Austerity and the New Democrats Remain Addicted to It

Black blasts Obama for prescribing austerity and presenting it as good for Americans when it is good only for financiers and the rich.

The California Drought Is on Its Way Out, but Deeper Droughts Lie Ahead

California regularly leads national trends. Water scarcity is a prime example.

A Tale of Two Countries: Nigeria and the U.S.

How the US and Nigeria wound up with increasingly similar systems, such as centralized, presidential-focused politics.

Helicopter Money: Loved, Not Spent

Another monetarist myth bites the dust. Consumers overwhelmingly say they would not spend helicopter money.

More on the Economic Hardship of Young Adults

Young adults have had a very rough go and don’t have good reason to expect their economic condition to improve much.

North Dakota Governor: DAPL Likely to Get Easement Once Trump Is President

Trump is likely to give DAPL, the Dakota Access Pipeline, an easement despite Army Corps of Engineers’ objections.

Gaius Publius: Who’s Blackmailing the President & Why Aren’t Democrats Upset About It?

The CIA tries a ham-handed stunt to blackmail Trump and Democrats applaud. This is too close for comfort to an attack on democratic rule.

The Fed in an Age of Uncertainty

How uncertainty over the wisdom of the Fed starting to tighten in 2017 and its reading of Trump policies might impact other economies.

How To Balance Sovereignty and Integration in a Voluntary EU

Why is the EU project in trouble and what might be done to fix it?

Links 1/13/17

Debate Over Health Care Yet Again Omits Elephants In the Room: Excessive Costs Due to Terrible Incentives and Pricing, Administrative Costs, Pharma Looting

Health care in America is broken and the press and pundits seem desperate to paper over how bad it is.

Does Immigration Boost Growth? A Look at Data From Around the World

Comparative data on immigration doesn’t support the tidy economists’ story that it good for growth…at least not recently.