United States Gross Domestic Product expanded at a 3.2 percent pace in quarter one of 2010, according to the preliminary estimate released today. This was very close to our forecast of 3.1 percent. This expansion […]
Read moreThe current VC Reporter has a great article on two competing downtown Ventura projects. The proposals are for Ventura’s iconic intersection at California and Main, and each would be a huge innovation for the City. […]
Read moreWhen thinking about regulation, it is helpful to have some regulatory principles. Here are my proposals: Keep it simple. Simple regulation is cost-effective regulation. Simple regulation minimizes both regulatory costs to the government and compliance […]
Read moreAlmost everybody pontificating about financial regulation seems to be recommending increased capital ratios, increasing the ratio of firm’s capital to assets. It is also true that financial regulation around the world includes minimum capital ratios. […]
Read moreThis is a question that I’ve never seen asked, at least not in the popular press, but it seems important to me, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately. For one thing, how […]
Read moreNew durables-manufactured goods orders fell 1.3 percent in March, but excluding transportation, orders rose 2.8 percent. The overall drop was driven by a large decline in aircraft orders. The aircraft orders are volatile and not […]
Read moreI was in Peoria yesterday to give a talk to the City Council. Peoria is a suburb of Phoenix, but it is intent on having its own identity and economy. The City has a population […]
Read moreDan Hamilton and Kjersti Framnes The California March unemployment rate increased to 12.6 percent from 12.5 percent in February. Since August of 2009 the unemployment rate has climbed 60 basis points, and there has not […]
Read moreVentura California’s City Manager, Rick Cole, has had two recent pieces at newgeography.com, here and here, titled “The War for Jobs.” In these pieces, he outlines some important changes in California cities’ environment, and what […]
Read moreThe Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Larry Summers are having a heated exchange over the impacts of unemployment insurance on jobs, and they are both being stupid. The WSJ claims that extending unemployment insurance is […]
Read moreUnited States retail sales data through February show that while the last three months have been positive they have not in fact been inspiring at all. We see that the volatility in total sales was […]
Read moreI recently gave a talk and itemized my principals for bank regulation. They are: • Keep it simple • Preserve correct incentives • Minimize political influence • Maximize market feedback • Minimize moral hazard issues […]
Read more