Our Debt-Capacity Fishery
Environmental economists have a useful framework to analyze limited but renewable resources. It is called maximum sustainable yield. For a fishery, it measures the number of fish that can be harvested each year without impairing the future viability of the…
The Economics of Immigration
“I pity the poor immigrant Who wishes he would’ve stayed home Who uses all his power to do evil But in the end is always left so alone.” – Bob Dylan 1967 The immigration debate…
Through the Looking Glass
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Now that enough people have made it through the looking glass of www.healthcare.gov, we are beginning to find out more about the…
What Went Wrong? Expectations Matter
Five years ago we found out who was not too big to fail. Lehman Brothers went down on September 15, 2008, with over $600 billion in assets setting off a remarkable chain of events. A few days later John McCain…
How Risky Is Uncle Sam?
The first time I heard the phrase “country risk” associated with the United States of America I was at an international private equity conference in the fall of 2009. I was shocked that European investors were applying analytical techniques to…
The Weight – The Final Chapter? by Jim Anderson
“Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free; Take a load off Fanny, and you put the load right on me.” The Band, Robbie Robertson, 1968 With a string of profitable quarters on the books, it seems…
Bernanke’s Bear Baiting
“Bear baiting is a blood sport involving the worrying or tormenting (baiting) of bears.” – Wikipedia Bear baiting was a favorite of both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. They even built a specialized pit, the Bear Garden, at Bankside in London…
How Much Can Change in Two Years?
When I was a young man I read Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast. Two years seemed like enough time to change everything. It has been two years since my last commentary. But it seems like nothing has…