Topic: Financial Markets

Financial Markets, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy

Where New Zealand Goes, the World Goes

– March 26, 2021

“In the 1990s New Zealand pioneered inflation targeting, an approach that every major country followed for the next three decades. In a few years we might look back at this fleeting Kiwi attempt at incorporating asset markets into monetary policy with the same admiring eyes that we now see their move to inflation targeting. Where New Zealand goes, the world tends to follow.” ~ Joakim Book

Economic Education, Financial Markets, Media

The Business Economics of The Office

– March 24, 2021

“Though The Office may offer a somewhat exaggerated account of entrepreneurial alertness, economic calculation, and the vagaries of corporate management, the broader strokes of its characters’ endeavors are informative. Namely, these are concepts that lie in the pages of economics and business textbooks, accompanied by graphs that make the layman’s head turn. Yet, viewed through the lens of Dunder Mifflin’s trials and tribulations, these concepts become accessible––even subconsciously.” ~ Peter C Earle & Amelia Janaskie

Economic Education, Financial Markets

Lose a Ton of Money Fast With “Hot Stock Tips”

– March 21, 2021

“It warms my heart when a student or alum tells me they’ve opened a Roth IRA or when I can advise a high schooler who has been saving up so he can buy a share of Amazon stock to put the money in a mutual fund instead. Managing your money wisely isn’t especially glamorous, but it certainly beats risking it all and ending up with nothing.” ~ Art Carden

Cryptocurrency, Financial Markets

Bitcoin Continues Steady Mainstream Adoption

– March 10, 2021

“At the moment, the idea of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is still emerging technology but at one point they were considered fringe. Their increasing adoption not only lends support for the ongoing rise of Bitcoin’s value but demonstrates an interesting inflection point for financial affairs.” ~ Ethan Yang

Central Banking, Economic Education, Financial Markets

The Back Door to Universal Basic Income

– March 9, 2021

“Low and falling barriers for lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and other government-mandated nonpharmaceutical interventions are acting as a back door for the silent implementation of UBI & MMT schemes.” ~ Peter C. Earle & Kristoffer J. M. Hansen

Crisis, Economic Education, Financial Markets

How Did the Life Insurance Industry Survive the Pandemic?

– March 6, 2021

“It is of course a good thing that life insurers did not exacerbate the financial stresses brought on by the pandemic or its mitigation policies, which did indeed turn out to be the worst since the New Deal as I suggested in April 2020. ‘Tis a shame that nobody followed my suggestion, made that same month, to use life insurance data to provide an independent assessment of the pandemic’s progress.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Central Banking, Financial Markets

In Finance, Slow is Good

– March 3, 2021

“What the central bank RTGS/LSM two-step teaches us is that we need a good balance between fast and slow. Sure, real-time settlement is a nice feature. But let’s also have delayed settlement. If brokerages have a choice to use some combination of two-day and real-time settlement, we may arrive at a socially optimal stock settlement rate.” ~ J.P. Koning

Cryptocurrency, Economic Education, Financial Markets

Mastercard’s Crypto Ruse

– March 3, 2021

“With more corporate powerhouses supporting cryptocurrencies by the month, it appears that crypto is here to stay. Whether those cryptos are the ones currently popular or this announcement by Mastercard acts to initiate a path dependent development process is presently unknown and unknowable. Other recent initiatives by the massive processing firm suggest a focus that may thwart, rather than promote, the expansion of genuine, public cryptocurrency use.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Central Banking, Cryptocurrency, Financial Markets

Escape Hatches: Migration, Bitcoin, and the Ability to Get Out

– February 27, 2021

“Keep more mobile assets; have larger buffers, financial and physical; instead of a large house in a nice suburb, perhaps aim for a smaller home coupled with a condo or house in a different jurisdiction? Don’t put all your financial eggs in one portfolio – keep some gold and some bitcoin; keep healthy; update your survivability skills. Ensure that your escape hatches remain open.” ~ Joakim Book

Economic Trends, Financial Markets, Fiscal Policy

Are the Conditions Right for Another Commodity Super-Cycle?

– February 26, 2021

“With unemployment rates still elevated and much of the global economy in some form of lockdown, it is hard to imagine the conditions for an economic boom, especially one that will see wage increases, but the size and scale of the global monetary and fiscal response to the pandemic is unprecedented. It creates the conditions for a continued appreciation of a wide range of essential commodity prices as the pandemic ends and demand rebounds.” ~ Colin Lloyd

Books, Economic History, Financial Markets

When Financial Markets Bubble, There’s Something for Everyone

– February 24, 2021

“Whenever something seems bubbly, accusations of tulips and South Sea bubbles are never far away – even though the proportion of people who could actually explain those iconic episodes of our financial past is frighteningly close to zero. Levenson’s account of the South Sea Bubble will not, I daresay, be the last time historians find reason to look at this grand event of our financial past.” ~ Joakim Book

Cryptocurrency, Financial Markets, Regulation

Accountants Have Learned To Live With Crypto

– February 19, 2021

“Accounting professionals need to learn to live and work with crypto, and standard setters need to be proactive in the creation of crypto-specific standards. Applying standards developed for the 20th century economy to 21st crypto assets is already causing issues, and should be rectified to avoid wider market disruptions.” ~ Sean Stein Smith