Brrr! Tuesday’s news that the average price of a Twin Cities-area home in August was 4 percent less than a year earlier sent chills down homeowners’ spines. For most households, their home is their most important asset and constitutes most…
Know what Fed’s job is, then let’s do it
Sheer luck may allow you to kill two birds with one stone, but you should not count on it. The same is true in economic policy. “You cannot accomplish two policy goals with only one policy instrument,” is how economists…
Decision to disclose information can enter gray area
NASA made news this week when it was reported the agency had conducted a major study of aviation safety, interviewing over 20,000 pilots, and then sat on the data. An official defended that decision because the findings could damage the…
Bailouts sometimes backfire
My friend was despondent: “I don’t know,” he said, “she is sending such mixed signals.” In economic affairs, as in those of the heart, an unclear signal can be worse than no signal. Citigroup, JPMorgan and Bank of America had…