Larry's Blog
An Awful Way to Pick Presidential Candidates
January 17, 2012
The selection process for U.S. presidential nominees does a great disservice to voters and aspiring candidates. The use of state primaries was developed to make the choice more democratic but in practice has made it less so than when the main vetting of candidates was done by party professionals. In the Iowa caucus, Mitt Romney […] More
Central Bank Watch
No Policy Change from Bank of Canada
January 17, 2012
Canada’s 1.0% overnight money rate target since September 2010 was left unchanged again as analysts expected. In the new statement, policymakers reiterated that "there is considerable monetary policy stimulus in Canada." New quarterly macroeconomic forecasts are modestly modified from those presented in October, but the gist of the forecast remains the same. Economic growth will […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Less Concern about China and Europe –> Risk On
January 17, 2012
Chinese growth slowed less sharply than feared last quarter. December industrial production and retail sales also eclipsed expectations. The ZEW Institute released much better-than-forecast measures of investor sentiment toward Germany and the euro area. British and Euroland consumer price inflation slowed last month. Like other recent sovereign debt auctions in Europe, Spain’s sales of 1-year […] More
