Econ70

Oliver Hart of Harvard by way of Britain, and Bengt Holmstrom of MIT, but originally from Finland, jointly won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their work on contract theory and its impact on corporate governance and mergers,…

The Friday File: In August, Manchester United paid an £89 ($112) million transfer fee to Italian club Juventus for 23-year-old midfielder Paul Pogba. This broke the prior transfer fee record of £86 million Real Madrid paid for Gareth Bale in…

Financial markets quickly rendered their decision on the first Clinton-Trump debate. The Mexican peso, a very oversimplified yet popular election risk proxy and barometer of election fortunes, soared as markets now assume no wall will built, NAFTA will not be…

US household wealth reached $89.1 trillion in 16Q2, the third straight record setting quarter. Wealth cyclically peaked in 07Q2 at $67.7 trillion, and then declined through 09Q1, bottoming at $54.4 trillion. Relatedly, the 16Q2 US household debt service ratio, the…

Last week, Q2 GDP was upwardly revised to a still-anemic 1.4% from 1.1%. Two measures of consumer confidence rose, with one hitting its highest level since 2007. Moreover, the Fed’s favorite inflation indicator rose by one-tenth of a percent in…

Every dollar spent on UberX (Uber’s version of a regular cab) in the US results in an additional $1.50 of benefit, almost $7 billion/year. That’s why we all say “what a deal” when we exit an Uber. While customers follow…

The Friday File: In 2014, US music downloading totaled $2.6 billion, down from $2.8 billion in 2013, and accounted for 37% of music sales. Physical sales of CDs/LPs totaled $2.1 billion, from $2.3 billion in 2013, and represented 32% of…

Surprising many, OPEC announced it may cut production late this year by as much as 700,000 bbl/day, an amount representing about two-thirds of the current global oversupply. However, it’s also an amount easily made up by US fracking activity that…

In 2015, the male median full-time wage was $51,212 while it was $40,742 for women. Women now make 80% of what men do, up from 78% in 2007 and 60% in 1980. Economists estimate that half the gap stems from…

The Bank of Japan’s decision to target a 0% yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds should reassure the government that it can run bigger deficits without triggering a jump in debt service costs, thereby promoting increased spending. But with a…