ECONOMY

If the Official Inflation Rate Is Correct, the Real Policy Rate In Russia Is Now 12.4%

The Central Bank of Russia today raised the policy rate from 19% to 21%. That’s assuming (1) adaptive expectations, and (2) the inflation rate is

ECONOMY

Nonsensical Graphs that People Post

Item 1: Source: Antoni. Item 2: Source: Antoni. Not that the data are “wrong” (I’m not a data conspiracy theorist). Just without context, it’s pretty

ECONOMY

I talk with Scott Wolla

Name: Greg Mankiw Location: United States I am the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University. I use this blog to keep in

ECONOMY

Big Mac Nation and Recession since 2022

In a recent paper, Antoni and St. Onge (2024) have argued that the peak in GDP, properly measured, was in 2021Q4.   Source: Antoni and St. Onge (2024).

ECONOMY

Guest Contribution: “Social Security Reform: Between a Cliff and a Hard Place”

Today we present a guest post written by Lindsay Jacobs, Assistant Professor at the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, at the University of

ECONOMY

Nowcasts, Weekly Indicators, and Additions to the “Recession Camp”

Nowcasts for NY and St. Louis Feds out today; St. Louis up from 1.14% to 1.73% q/q AR. NY Fed, and GS tracking unchanged at

ECONOMY

Project 2025: So All Your Hurricane Projections Can Look Like This

Envisaging Milton under Trump 2.0: Source: NOAA. Following: Source:Time, Feb 1, 2020. From Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise on page 666: The

ECONOMY

Employment Overall, and at Smaller Firms

While overall private employment has risen, firms with 1-49 employees have kept employment flat in recent months. Figure 1: Private nonfarm payroll employment from CES

ECONOMY

Dollar Share of World FX Reserves (thru Q2)

From the IMF (9/27/2024): Figure 1: USD share of total reserves as reported (light blue), and USD share plus 60% of unallocated share (bold blue).

ECONOMY

“It’s almost as if you have no economics training at all…”

With apologies to Kramer’s boss in Seinfeld. From Oren Cass’s “Trump’s Most Misunderstood Policy Proposal: Economists aren’t telling the whole truth about tariffs,” The Atlantic: