Monthly Archives: May 2009

Pragmatic Taxation

Posted on May 31, 2009 by

Like Yglesias, I find this just weird. Talking about optimal taxation policy, Greg Mankiw : The point of our paper is this: If you are going to take that philosophy seriously, you have to take all of the implications seriously. … Continue reading →

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Performing Consumption Smoothing

Posted on May 29, 2009 by

Performing Finance I think about performativity and economics often. It seems a little grad school bullsh**ty, but in finance it can be a killer. Does Black-Scholes work because we all assume it works? Here’s a practical example: You believe that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

On Working With Your Hands and our Service Economy

Posted on May 26, 2009 by

Do check out this New York Times Magazine article The Case for Working With Your Hands, excerpted from the book which is a take on the original magazine article. A PhD drops out of the Washington DC political consulting world … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Credit Card Reform: More Thoughts on Rates

Posted on May 24, 2009 by

Three quick follow up points. Soprano Credit Commenter Another Mike brings up a good point, one I’ve been thinking about: The main idea is that there is an active secondary market in business debt, and primary lenders take advantage of … Continue reading →

Posted in Credit Card Reform, Uncategorized | Tagged | 22 Comments

Rawk Break, 5/22

Posted on May 22, 2009 by

Because it’s been one of those weeks. Also, since the credit card industry might be roped in, and the specter of the USA losing its AAA rating hangs in the background, let’s dream about free money: Is it just me, … Continue reading →

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Credit Card Reform: Does my credit card’s interest rate mean anything?

Posted on May 22, 2009 by

Transactional and Revolving credit I highly recommend this post by interfluidity, where he slices a credit card into the transactional and revolving portions, and makes this finance blogging thing look easy. He write about how we should focus on bringing … Continue reading →

Posted in Credit Card Reform, Uncategorized | Tagged | 26 Comments

Credit Card Reform: Will my rewards disappear?

Posted on May 22, 2009 by

We’ve done some critical theory lately, let’s get back to some real finance, with some equations to make up for it. I’m coming in late to the credit card debate, so I’ll get right to it. I pay my credit … Continue reading →

Posted in Credit Card Reform, Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

Housing Bubble Leftovers

Posted on May 20, 2009 by

We are in the middle of a Great Recession, but someday we will be out of it. It is very easy to focus on the losses, but what did we gain? James Surowiecki has a column where he says: There … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Exurban Dystopia Art

Posted on May 20, 2009 by

Say’s Law in Theory Supply constitutes demand. Say’s Law in Practice Supply constitutes demand….of bulldozers! The Exurbs as Disaster It makes sense, does it? Dollars and cents They’re stretching barbed wire across the picket fence That is surrounding your housing … Continue reading →

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Of Men and Markets

Posted on May 20, 2009 by

The newest critique. Professor Anne Sibert: Since few would characterise the bankers and other employees of financial firms as an unintelligent group, it is interesting to ask why they behaved in such an egregious fashion; I advance three theories… The … Continue reading →

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