Presentation At MMT Conference

I will be doing a presentation at the First International Conference of Modern Monetary Theory in Kansas City in September 2017 (conference dates are September 21-24, website: http://www.mmtconference.org/). I will be presenting an introduction to my Python stock-flow consistent models package -- sfc_models. This article is a rough draft of what I think the slides will look like.

Book Review: The Reformation In Economics

Philip Pilkington published "The Reformation in Economics: A Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Economic Theory" in 2016. It is an ambitious book, outlining the structural flaws of mainstream economic theory. He discusses the potential replacement theory, but this reconstruction is somewhat overshadowed by the deconstruction.

Bank Of Canada Hawkishness Ramping Up

Developed central bank hawkishness has been increasing over the past weeks, signalling a new consensus (or groupthink) among global policymakers. Such a shift should not be too surprising, given the biases of central bankers. In particular, the shift by the Bank of Canada is a reversion to historical form; whether or not it will be disastrous remains to be seen.

Book Review: What's Wrong With Money?

Michael Ashton is a inflation product specialist who was involved in the development of the inflation derivatives market. He published What's Wrong With Money: The Biggest Bubble of them All last year. I essentially answered the question in his title with the title of my last report -- "Abolish Money (From Economics)!" The problem with money is that it leads to dubious economic analysis. Ashton is a relatively old school Monetarist, and the book inherits the weaknesses of Monetarism. However, the financial/personal finance aspects of the book are interesting.

No Banking Run In Our Lifetimes...

Fed Chair Janet Yellen was quoted by Reuters as believing that there would not be another financial crisis (presumably similar to the one in 2008) in "our lifetimes." Steve Keen was harsh, arguing that this is symptomatic of mainstream complacency about the financial system. I am not completely sure on the context of the comment, but it appears to me that it illustrates the ancient philosophical principle: you ask a stupid question, you get a stupid answer.

The Bond Market Is Discounting an Eventual Recession

The flattening of the yield curve has attracted some commentary, but it appears to be telling us very little. By itself, the 2-/10-year slope (above) is not at a particularly interesting level; one should expect flattening during a rate hike cycle. Current bond market pricing is consistent with an eventual recession, and so arguments that the Treasury market is "in a bubble" appear to be hyperbole.

Summer Schedule

I have been tied up with various non-writing projects (as well as being hit by some kind of virus this week), so I will be now dropping to a summer schedule. Unless I want to write a quick rant about something, I will aim for one weekly article, probably published on Wednesdays. (Although this is not a subscription service, I try to keep to a weekly writing schedule.)

Yeah, the Fed hiked rates this week. Not worth getting excited about, until they are hiking every second meeting...