Matt Nolan

Our blog exhibits a variable personality

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I just re-ran the “typealyzer” and our blog type changed considerably (from here):

ISTJ – The Duty Fulfillers

The responsible and hardworking type. They are especially attuned to the details of life and are careful about getting the facts right. Conservative by nature they are often reluctant to take any risks whatsoever.

The Duty Fulfillers are happy to be let alone and to be able to work int heir own pace. They know what they have to do and how to do it.


I am not sure that represents the nature of the blog at all 🙂

Matt Nolan

Multiple equilibrium and the drastic fall in oil prices

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The world price of oil has now declined to under $50US a barrel, a third of it’s peak value (live prices here).

This takes me back to a post we did at the end of May – when fuel costs were pushing up at a rate of knots. The topic was covered in the name: Collusion, multiple equilibrium, and petrol prices.

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Will Taylor

Comments on new theme welcome

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Hello avid TVHE readers

Given that we are currently constrained to use wordpress themes (we will get our own hosting eventually and go custom), we keep a watch on the new themes that get added to see if any are more functional/look cooler then our current one.

One that appears to be a little more functional (I’m not sure I would say it’s cooler as it is a little girly!) has been released and we thought we would we would give it a go and see what you guys think.

The comment and post links on the right are a lot clearer and the posts also show the author, category and number of comments quite clearly at the beginning. Quotes are demarcated in text and it just feels a little less cluttered.

Please, let us know what you think!

Matt Nolan

Why the price on deposit insurance is too low – at least in the US

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So the deposit insurance schemes being introduced around the world have the explicit aim of “saving the world economy from Armageddon”.  Even so, when I spent a couple of weeks in the US I got the distinct impression that this scheme will lead to more (even more substantive) issues down the track.

Here is a list of interesting things I heard on Ads (or saw on billboards) in the US:

  1. Now, thanks to the deposit insurance scheme, we don’t have to check your credit (Ad),
  2. The world is America’s ATM (Billboard),
  3. Need a $200,000 loan to start a business – with no credit check? (Ad).

Add to this the already poor nature of savings in the US, and the fact that there is no individual responsibility in the housing market or even in the realm of taxes (every third ad is either about getting a lawyer to lower your taxes or getting a lawyer to push the government to give you extra benefits).

Ultimately, I think the US has some structural issues that need sorting – trying to keep consumers borrowing to maintain short-term growth feels like the government is creating a ponzi game in favour of the initial consumers that were involved.

Matt Nolan

Frog’s (next) attack on “economics”

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Frog has again attacked economics – however, this time the attack has been painted out in a more substantive manner, a manner that will allow us to actually discuss the methodology of economics and see where this critique fits in.

Frog’s claim is that:

The neoclassical economic model is failing us. It is based on some pretty poor assumptions and defies the laws and rigour of science

I find this, interesting. In order to analyse it we have to step back and ask: What is the neo-classical model? and how is it “failing us”?

I will have a first crack at saying what I think neo-classical economics is and what is going on with it. Then you guys can attack it and hopefully teach me a thing or two – as I am very interested in trying to understand “what is economics” in more detail.

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jamesz

Happy, happy people!

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Yay, we’re the 15th happiest country in the world! Unsurprisingly, while money makes us happy, it doesn’t really matter once you earn over 15,000 USD/capita. What really matters is trust, tolerance and religion, apparently. Being religious makes you seven percentage points happier on average, which probably explains Saudi Arabia’s unusual happiness in the face of such intolerance.

And now for the big picture(s)! Read more