There is a lot of talk about bubbles, and how we need to do something to prevent them. I find this difficult, as even if we could observe bubbles we also really need to justify why we should lean against them – as long as the cost falls on those getting themselves involved in the […]
So says an article on Stuff. This makes sense to me, after all having the means to buy what you value the most is useful. In fact, this is incredibly relevant for my article in the Dom Post tomorrow 😉
The shift from debt-financed consumption to greater saving and investment is also expected to support the household sector’s capacity to repay its debt. This is from the RBNZ’s Dec 10 bulletin. This is a good article, but the nature of this specific sentence grates me. I would suggest reading and enjoying the article for what […]
Via Stats NZ Increases in borrowing, interest paid, and investment in housing by households and the private unincorporated producers sectors (sole traders, partnerships) suggest that New Zealand increased its international indebtedness through offshore borrowing to finance housing, among other things. That is from their new Institutional Sector Accounts, which I’m going to spend a bit […]
This post from Marginal Revolution has moved me from thinking to writing. On the surface there appears to be a lot in common with the Irish, Greek, and NZ economies. All three have high net foreign liability positions, liabilities are highly concentrated through banks who are borrowing overseas, all three have experienced some form of […]
There is an excellent article on QE2 by Robert Barro (ht Greg Mankiw), I suggest you read it. However, there is one point – where it goes from descriptive to a little more forward looking about policy – where I might see things in a slightly different shade: The downside of QE2 is that it […]