Policy commentary from an econ, data science, and comparative politics perspective
image from ThriftBooks I found Peter Zeihan's The Accidental Superpower to be a very interesting, informative, and entertaining book. It seems to be a great introduction to geopolitics, especially with its awesome maps. The first half of the book is brilliant, describing the geographical advantages that led to America's rise. As he describes in the book,… Continue reading Review of The Accidental Superpower
(image via Fundamental Stocks) Well, inflation involves a currency losing value. So, in one sense, inflation is bad for any security denominated in that currency because the buying power of that amount of money decreases. In regards to why some stocks react very negatively to inflation news, this has more to do with expected interest rates.… Continue reading Why is inflation bad for stocks?
(image via goodreads) Odd Arne Westad's The Cold War is simply a must-read for anyone who wants a better understanding of the world today. Despite having lived through the Cold War -- and as someone who probably pays closer attention to current events, world politics, and history than your average American -- there was a… Continue reading Review of The Cold War: A World History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we-L7w1K5Zo "Boo! Different political party!" You may have noticed how political debates in the U.S. these days tend to be two sides shouting and hurling insults at each other. Do you want to do something about it? Well, the first step is to be able to understand what you believe and why. If your only… Continue reading How I define Conservativism and Liberalism
Posted on my Facebook on January 7th, 2021, links and image added August 23rd, 2021. Image via CNN. I'd moved most of my political content to Twitter mostly so y'all would have less politics to deal with when you just want to see how your friends and family are doing over the holidays. Plus, I… Continue reading The Capitol Riots
The 2% level is rather arbitrary, but the basic idea is to set a small positive number because it is a lot easier for central banks to fight inflation (a rising price level) than for them to fight deflation (falling prices). The reason is simple: to fight inflation, it can slow spending by raising interest… Continue reading Why Does the Fed Have a 2% Inflation Target?
As I see it, the main cause was systemic, namely the securitization of mortgages (e.g., CDOs). This means mortgages being repackaged by lenders and resold to other investors who wanted the income from the monthly payments. This was first done in 1970 by the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae), but securitization didn’t really start taking… Continue reading The Causes of the Financial Crisis
It boils down to two main reasons: The problem is extremely difficult.The field of macroeconomics has been corrupted by politics. Regarding the first problem, it’s an issue of complexity. Just like molecules do not act like sums of atoms (and thus chemistry bears little resemblance to physics), humans do not act like sums of organs,… Continue reading Why Can’t Economics Accurately Predict the Timings of Recessions?
The easiest and most painless way to save money is to simply save 100% (or at least most) of every raise that you get. It is much easier to maintain a lifestyle at a certain level of spending than it is to reduce your spending. This also goes for if you are a college or… Continue reading What Are the Best Ways to Save Money?
It depends. If you have credit card debt, paying that off is the best. Other debt would need to be compared to your mortgage debt based on interest rates, whether they adjust (and if so, where you think interest rates may go throughout its life), whether they have a balloon payment, tax deductibility, flexibility of… Continue reading Is Paying My Mortgage Off Earlier the Best Financial Decision I Can Currently Make?
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