So according to the Stats NZ figures, the quantity of durable consumption goods (cars, appliances, furniture, drills etc) purchased fell very quickly during the March quarter. Now they have been dropping for a while – but this drop was off the charts. Durable goods are seen as a “leading indicator” (in combination with durable investment […]
Over at Anti-Dismal, Paul Walker states the following when discussing anti-competitive action against Intel: The whole point of market power is to raise prices, and thus profits. But how can Intel be accused of anti-competitive behavior when it was giving “hidden discounts” to computer makers? A real anti-competitive monopolist, with real market power, acting in […]
I was surprised to hear Bill English come out and tell banks to reduce their profitability. This statement is ridiculous – it is like telling people to go out and cut their wages. However, Bernard Hickey bet me to the punch in criticising this. This quote sums up how I feel: I actually like that […]
Well sort of. They didn’t call them that, but reducing “payroll taxes” is equivalent to subsidising wages. We have discussed this concept before, and decided that in a specific situation it could make some sense as a temporary measure. Note that this relies on stick wages: Otherwise the result of a payroll tax cut and […]
When reading a post on public address I came across this gem from NZI. the next two tranches of the proposed income tax cuts should be cancelled on the grounds that they would contribute to the structural deficit, are unlikely to do much for growth, and do not support the most vulnerable households Ok, so […]
We have all heard a lot about how the Taylor rule suggests the US needs a -5% cash rate, which is why this quote in a Bloomberg article was not surprising: The rule might suggest the need by the end of 2009 of a funds rate of minus 7.5 percent, Laurence Meyer, vice chairman of […]