SciBooks • Apr 23, 2014 •
by Matt Nolan REVIEW: Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty Harvard University Press (2014) RRP: US$39.95 Capital, by Thomas Piketty, is a book that had to be written. Both he, and his translator Arthur Goldhammer, have come together to produce a text that is insightful, interesting, challenging, and clear to the public. I … Read More
Eric Crampton • Feb 28, 2014 •
I read the behavioural literature as a meta form of self-help. Here are some standard ways that people can screw things up; here are some heuristics they use that work on average but can yield failures when applied to the wrong domain; here are some strategies for applying the right heuristic at the right time and for avoiding applying … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Sep 09, 2013 •
In the recent book Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, Jonathan Boston has a really useful chapter. It probably should have started the book as a way of laying some intellectual groundwork, instead of being Chapter 5. It raises the same point as Matt Nolan does at TVHE, quoting Amartya Sen, but with more detail. Here’s Boston: […] … Read More
Eric Crampton • Aug 22, 2013 •
A loyal reader writes, and I anonymise: My [partner] is a [high ranking title] at [large professional services firm] and over drinks last night the young [professionals in this industry] (under 28, mostly single, still have student loans, gross income btw 60k and 90k, most 2/3 years’ experience max) were crapping themselves re the RB’s loan restrictions…really pissed about it. Read More
Eric Crampton • Jul 16, 2013 •
The RBNZ will soon announce its Loan-to-Value rules. Matt Nolan makes a few reasonable points (all my paraphrasing):If the policy is targeted at financial stability, then it has to bite on high-leverage first home loans as those are the most likely to wind up in positions of default. I'm still a bit sceptical here as the OBR rules mean … Read More
Eric Crampton • Jul 01, 2013 •
The RBNZ is looking more seriously at loan-to-value ratio regulations to curb house price appreciation. I've been skeptical about LVR regulations. If adopted as a "thou shalt not loan more than x% of the house's value" commandment applying to all new loans, they would have substantial effects on first home buyers unable to lean on family for support. If … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Apr 22, 2013 •
I posted flippantly last week about the Reinhart and Rogoff (R&R) re-assessment by Herndon, Ash, and Pollin. There’s been more bytes spilled since then. The Economist says it’s not such a big deal, because ’Ms Reinhart and Mr Rogoff acknowledge in their academic work that this conundrum “has not been fully resolved”, but have sometimes been less careful […] … Read More
Eric Crampton • Apr 12, 2013 •
New Zealand's Open Banking Resolution system in case of bank failure makes bank failure less likely, and so makes depositor bailouts less likely, but doesn't eliminate the risk that the government might bail out depositors. Matt Nolan has made this point more than a few times and has urged that we reinstate deposit insurance and require banks to … Read More
Eric Crampton • Feb 13, 2013 •
In an impassioned plea against the unions' forthcoming 'living wages' campaign, Matt Nolan deplores that unions push for this kind of thing without considering the costs: I mean I swear to god unions, and their determination to get what they want wit... Read More
Eric Crampton • Oct 07, 2012 •
Matt Nolan walks us through why quantitative easing to pay for the Christchurch Rebuild isn't particularly good policy. If we need a monetary push, the place to start is interest rates - and then only if RBNZ thinks we're going to be below the 1% lower... Read More