Author Archives: Tony Yates

Steve Williamson’s scepticism about empirical and saltwater macro

Steve writes wide-rangingly, taking issue with several aspects of empirical macroeconomics. Steve goes for the modern VAR literature, which seeks to identify monetary policy shocks, and measures that these shocks have effects on real variables, and that their effects on … Continue reading

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Spencer Dale on the new economics of oil

Duncan Weldon alerted Twitter to this very nice think piece by my old boss, now at BP. One of the points he makes is how new reserve discoveries have been outpacing oil consumption.  And he uses that to question whether  … Continue reading

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Jeremy Warner on the Charter, and sanctions

Two comments on this piece by Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph.  Jeremy remarks: “there is no purpose to law without sanctions, and this one appears to have none beyond the extra capacity for embarrassment if it is broken.” First, I … Continue reading

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Why the fiscal charter is not right

Ultimately I am against this charter for the same reason that I am against moves to legislate that the Fed should follow, or be monitored relative to a monetary policy rule. Macroeconomic fiscal policy is, crudely, about weighing the demands … Continue reading

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More Koning on future marginal liquidity services

JP comments on my last post commenting on his post, and this post responds. He notes that while a technological innovation that reduces the need for money, or the liquidity and convenience services that come from holding money, would have … Continue reading

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Is monetary impotence due to monetary innovation? On JP Koning.

JP poses this question in yet another thought-provoking post. I’ll offer one thought, from the standard New Keynesian model of money, interest and prices.  In this model, the fact that money confers liquidity services is captured, rather crudely, by assuming … Continue reading

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Is there really a credibility problem in the face of deflation?

Tim Young, in typically combative style, doubts in a comment on this blog that there really is a credibility problem in the face of deflation.  I accept that historically, and theoretically, we have focused on the difficulty of persuading the … Continue reading

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