The idea that Democrats want to make America more like Europe is a favorite Republican attack line. Writing in The New York Times, David Brooks expresses amazement that so many millennials are supporting Bernie Sanders, an open admirer of the European model. Why would anyone in their right mind favor “sluggish” Europe over “vibrant” America?If … Read more
The recent decline in the oil price has triggered speculations that as many as half of the U.S. shale oil producers might face bankruptcy soon (CNBC). Analysts have further argued that this would lead to a sharp decline in the U.S. oil production, which over last five years has roughly doubled from about 5 mb/d … Read more
The presidential campaign has brought new attention to the problem of banks that are too big to fail (TBTF). As everyone agrees, the largest banks are bigger than ever. As the following chart shows, the share of all bank assets held by the four largest banks rose from 33 percent in 2007 to 41 percent … Read more
China’s currency has, once again, been weakening against the dollar. It is down by more than 4 percent since October, including a fall of more than one percent just last week. Writing in the New York Times, Landon Thomas, Jr. warned that “China’s decision to push the value of its currency lower has opened a … Read more
Progressives see climate change and economic inequality as two of the big problems of our time. As the global aid organization Oxfam points out in a recent media briefing paper, “Extreme Carbon Inequality,” the two are “inextricably linked.” But just what is the nature of the linkage? Does inequality cause climate change? Does climate change … Read more
On 30 November the Board of the IMF decided to include the Chinese RMB in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket from 1 October 2016. SDR is the unit used in transactions between IMF member states and the Fund. RMB will thus become the fifth currency in this basket of global reserve currencies, joining the … Read more
Dalia Marin recently published a Project Syndicate column titled “Germany is not Volkswagen”, which basically tries to portray the fraud by Volkswagen that was recently uncovered by the US authorities as an isolated case and stress the strength of the German manufacturing culture. Germany is not Volkswagen, indeed. BMW, for example, passed the very same … Read more
This week Hillary Clinton rolled out an ambitious policy proposal on energy and climate change. It sets the goal of generating a third of US energy from renewable resources by 2027. It builds on the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, but regards that plan’s goals as a floor, not a ceiling. It calls for extensive … Read more
The oil market continues to be oversupplied and barrel prices remain low. It’s mostly the Saudis’ doing, and its part of their strategy to replace OPEC with a new Global Corporate Oil Board. Their newest tactic is a boost in domestic refining and growth in their refined product exports. Where does everyone else stand, and … Read more
The Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930 contained some of the highest tariff rates in U.S. history. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest blunders in economic policy in the history of the nation. It was intended by the Congress to protect jobs and wages of American workers, but trading partners retaliated, and it ended … Read more