Category Archives: Dubious statistics

A Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline is Next to a Nuclear Power Plant. What Could Go Wrong?

Someone needs to remind the overseers of old nuclear power plants that tail risks are greater than they think.

Some Real Costs of the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Nearly Half a Million Jobs Lost in the US Alone

The Trans-Pacific Partnership will lead to job losses overall, with the US taking the biggest hit.

Was Clintonomics Good for Working People?

Why Clintonomics does not live up to its PR.

James Galbraith Describes Major Forecast Failure in Model Used by Romers to Attack Friedman on Sanders Plan

James Galbraith examines the used forecast by Christine Romer and David Romer to attack Gerald Friedman’s favorable review of Sanders’ plan. He’d already shellacked the methodology in a 2014 book.

Negative Rates, Negative Reactions

A new survey suggests that negative rates will be counterproductive. Consumers will not spend more, as central banks wish, but will hoard.

Wolf Richter: Is This the Beginning of the Next Recession?

A sustained contraction in manufacturing historically has been a harbinger of recession. Be warned.

Satyajit Das: Age of Stagnation or Something Worse?

In The Age of Stagnation, author Satyajit Das has shifted from his usual wry detachment to a sense of foreboding.

Wolf Richter: Financial Chaos, Junk Bond Edition

Junk bonds are at 2008 bottom levels by some measures. But are they a bargain, or a falling safe?

Eurobanks: The Probable Point of Failure as Systemic Stress Rises

Why Eurobanks are the most likely fracture point if current economic stresses continue.

Dean Baker Exposes How CBO Cooks Inflation Forecasts to Promote Deficit Scaremongering

Yet more funny forecasts from the CBO telling you why you can’t have nice things, like a better job market.

Stock Market Investors Abandon Private Equity, Expect No Profits Overall From Current Deals

Equity investors think private equity funds will show no profits on their current deals, which contrasts sharply with portfolio company valuations.

Tom Engelhardt: The U.S. Military Bombs in the Twenty-First Century

The US military is not exceptional, save in sheer scale. It’s bad enough that the public is repeatedly told otherwise, but worse, the officialdom has fallen for its own PR.

Bill Black: How Many Lies Can the WSJ Pack into a Chart on Liar’s Loans?

Bill Black is not happy about the revisionist history on liar’s loans. And separately, this piece is a useful exercise in the critical reading of narratives.