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Bubble, Schmubble: Mexico Shows Why Derivatives Are Still Cool

The WSJ reports (HT2 Dan Simmons) that the Mexican government is worried that oil could really collapse, so it is hedging its exposure: Mexico said it has hedged all of its oil exports for next year against a price of oil below $70 a barrel, in a sign of how some resource-rich nations are trying […]

Deep Thoughts: Saving vs. Consumption

Back in October, I posted a link to my article “The Importance of Capital Theory.” In the comments, reader randallsquared (RS) was confused by this passage from the article: As for Cowen, he seems to be assuming that “real income” is equivalent to “real consumption.” I don’t know what to say except, “No it isn’t.” […]

Hank Paulson Is a Bald (-Faced) Liar: I Have Proof

Here is an ABC story (HT2EPJ) reporting on Paulson’s sudden change of heart regarding how his requested $700 billion “Troubled Asset Relief Program” (TARP) would now not involve any troubled assets: So, is this the biggest bait and switch in American history? There will certainly be critics who say that Paulson and the Bush Administration […]

Peter Schiff’s Critics: Who’s Laughing Now?

I felt terrible for my smug treatment of Peter Schiff in a few articles in 2006 and early 2007–though in my defense, strictly speaking the arguments in his articles that I read were invalid, and so 99% of my critiques were “good.” But since he was warning everyone the US economy was on the edge […]

Should the Government Close the Money Hole?

(HT2LRC.) This is pretty good; it sustains the joke for the entire clip. Warning, there is one naughty word in the beginning, so be careful if you are playing this at work or your parents’ house. In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?

So Was Oil in a Speculative Bubble or Not?!

Over the last year, I pretty definitively painted myself into a corner regarding speculators and oil prices. I said in many places (here and here, for example) that speculators weren’t driving the record run-up in oil prices, and that the default explanation–changes in the fundamentals of supply and demand–were responsible. Specifically, I testified to the […]

Who Were the Worst Economists During the Housing Boom?

John Carney is starting a list of economists who botched the housing/financial crisis, and his first victim is Cato’s Alan Reynolds. I feel bad for Reynolds, because when you read the “shocking” quotes that Carney reproduces, I totally understand why a free market guy would say those things at the time. (Incidentally, this is why […]

Thinking Green: It’s All About Tradeoffs

This Wall Street Journal article (HT2 Rob Bradley) explains that some of the money you save in fuel from switching to a high-mpg vehicle is offset by higher insurance premiums: Small cars generally cost more to insure than larger ones because they’re involved in more accidents and incur bigger claims, especially for injuries. That’s true […]