A New Ratio Measuring Labor Market Underutilization

This article refers to the ratio: number unemployed divided by job openings. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/business/economy/27jobs.html?_r=1&hp

G-20 Summit

The article "Nations Ready Big Changes to Global Economic Policy" in the Wall Street Journal of Sept 19, 2009 gives a good overview of issues being discussed at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh. Pay particular attention to how the recent crisis may affect international cooperation concerning financial regulation. The article is posted at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125348959155226421.html. SJSU students can access the article through the electronic journals subscriptions of the University Library.

More Disaggregated Data is Always Better

As a general rule, averages destroy information. This article sheds new light on widely cited statistics about health outcomes in the US and other countries: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/science/22tier.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Lessons From Lehman One Year Later (New Series)

See http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=topnews

Financial Crisis Interactive Graphic

There is an interesting interactive graphic of the financial crisis at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/12/business/financial-markets-graphic.html; press "Play" in the upper left-hand part of the page and follow the changing graphic as the time moves across the time line at the top of the page.

Globalization of Finance

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&refer=top_news&sid=aNFuVRL73wJc

Macroeconomics of Health Care Reform

I mentioned in class the other day that we would discuss the macroeconomics of health care reform later in the semester. Pres. Obama gave a good outline of the macroeconomic issues in his speech yesterday. Here is the text of that speech http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/us/politics/10obama.text.html?ref=politics.

Credit Card and Bank Fee Regulation

Recently passed credit card legislation (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/your-money/20money.html) limits issuers' actions with respect to fees. But the legislation does not cover debit cards. Fees have been a major source of bank profits, and according to a recent article in the New York Times, debit card fees have supplanted credit card fees as a source of bank revenue (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/09debit.html?_r=1&hp). Some bank practices with respect to handling transactions raise ethical concerns.

Measuring Unemployment - Discouraged Workers

See "Out of Work, Too Down to Search On, and Uncounted." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/07worker.html?_r=1&hp

Is "securitization" a four-letter word?

Wall Street has continued to create new and exotic financial instruments. The latest rage is "life settlements" - the securitization of life insurance policies. A recent article in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/business/06insurance.html?_r=1&hp describes the idea. You should read the article carefully to see why the market participants (buyers, sellers, and middlemen) in this emerging market expect to benefit, and also what could go wrong.

After reading the article the first time, re-read it but subsitute "mortgage-backed securities" for "life insurance policies." Then review your answer about why market participants expect to benefit and what could go wrong.

Jobless Recovery and Productivity

Here is an article from bloomberg.com that suggests a trade-off of sorts between job growth and productivity growth U.S. Recovery Leaving Workers Jobless May Spur Company Profits

Paul Krugman on "How Economists Got It So Wrong"

See

Krugman article