Economist Channel

Roll up your shirtsleeves, financial economists. As reported by Elizabeth Dexheimer at Bloomberg, Rep. Jeb Hensarling is “interested in working on a 2.0 version,”  of his financial choice act, the blueprint for reforming Dodd-Frank. “Advice and counsel is welcome."The core of the choice act is simple. Large banks must fund themselves with...

I'll be part of "Central Bank Governance and Oversight Reform: A Panel Discussion" at the Hoover Institution Washington DC offices, Tuesday Dec 6, 2016 10:00-12:00. The panelists will be  Michael Bordo, John Cochrane, Charles Plosser, John Taylor, and Kevin Warsh.The occasion...

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has released several papers over the last three years on the use of behavioural economics in policy (I would particularly recommend their first paper on this for a very useful overview of behavioural economics)e. Their latest paper is available here (summary below). It summarises a range of experimental evidence from...

For Thanksgiving, I offer a rumination.Last month, the Hoover Institution's fall retreat was organized around the theme of American Exceptionalism. See here for podcasts of talks from the stars -- really good. I talked about the nexus between economics, rule of law, regulation, and exceptionalism.This was before the election, but two themes strike...

Preliminary Programme: 9th Annual Irish Economics, Psychology, and Policy ConferenceQueen's University BelfastNovember 25th 2016 The ninth annual one day conference on Economics and Psychology will be held on November 25th in Queen's University Belfast, jointly organised by researchers in QUB, ESRI, Stirling and UCD. The purpose of these sessions...

Financial literacy competencies: an interactive dashboard The OECD/INFE has recently published results of an international data collection which measured financial literacy and financial inclusion. The survey aims to enable policy-makers to identify gaps and design appropriate responses....

From Chris Kirkham in today's Wall Street Journal, department of you can't make this stuff up:Nearly two-thirds of Los Angeles voters last week approved a citywide affordable-housing requirement.... The rule requires that up to 25% of units in rental properties and up to 40% in for-sale projects meet affordability guidelines. Alternatively, developers...

Matt Yglesias (HT Marginal Revolution) writes well of the danger facing America in the era of the regulatory state.Those who support the regime will receive favorable treatment from regulators, and those who oppose it will not. Because businesses do business with each other, the network becomes self-reinforcing. Regime-friendly banks receive a light...

See below for the provisional schedule of a workshop we will host in Stirling on November 16th on the work we are conducting in the areas of unemployment and precarious employment. Registration is free but places are limited due to the space so we ask you to register in advance on the eventbrite page.Schedule:12pm - 1215pm: Opening and Objectives1215pm...

Dear President-Elect Trump:The media and punditocracy are full of speculation about your "100 day" program. It sounds like you and your team might actually be preparing for one. Don't do it. Please.I know, every new president wants to repeat Franklin Roosevelt’s hundred days: a flurry of new legislation, executive orders and agencies, dramatically...

Source: Wall Street JournalNo matter who wins Tuesday’s presidential election, now ought to be the time that policy makers in Washington come together to tackle America’s greatest economic problem: sclerotic growth. The recession ended more than seven years ago. Unemployment has...

I will use this post to gather readings and resources in the area of behavioural science and law. Below just a starter. As often the case with these posts, I am aiming to give a wide overview of the different streams of thought - these are not posted as endorsements of any of the papers. The overlap between law and behavioural science will be a big...