Wrap Up for August 2022

Computers are very powerful, but only up to a point. "If the future is not like the past, then Big Data doesn't help you."

This visual of the necessary income to buy a home in cities across the U.S. really puts things into perspective.

What if the housing shortage is even more extensive than it appears?

Most U.S. natural gas goes to domestic consumption.

Disasters have become much more costly.

Mexico did a lot of things right. So why isn't it faring better?

David McCullough was an exceptional storyteller.

The recent JEP issue includes papers on both intangible and human capital.

Do people feel they have enough money for their purposes? Inflation can destroy how this gets framed in our minds.

How long do mined metals circulate in the economy before they are lost?

Can job creation be encouraged in distressed places?

"The Macroeconomic Consequences of Natural Rate Shocks"

Core services inflation is once again becoming dominant.

He wants to produce electric vehicles which do not require rare earth magnets.

Despite all that has come to pass, the dollar remains resilient.

Even the stagnation of the seventies wasn't as substantial as it may have seemed.

A review of Gender and the Dismal Science.

Societies haven't really had time to adjust to an age of abundance.

High inflation brings considerable emotional costs.

How the Fed uses monetary policy tools.

Noah Smith contemplates the linear nature of total factor productivity (and more).

Some rational thinking from Tim Harford on abortion.

Encouraging stronger energy markets is about eventual inflation reduction. 

"Four reasons why GDP is a useful number."

What does Trumpism really tell us about today's U.S. citizens? 

Making homes from recycled plastics.

Carola Binder discusses the importance of inflation expectations.

Plenty of uncertainties regarding the Texas power grid.

England's non-Covid excess mortality.

What does real estate investment actually consist of?

England's emergency healthcare response is stretched far too thin.

What actually accounts for the majority of household debt? 

Why have GDP and GDI diverged? Some possibilities.

"We need better models of aggregate supply." Also, her presentation for Jackson Hole. 

Living with climate change when moving isn't an option.

The U.S. isn't known for soft landings or mini-recessions.

"A new era of volatility"

Medicare is increasingly provided via private insurance.

Additional friction to Russia's war machine was the main point.