http://www.stephenkinsella.net Junior Lecturer in Economics, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Ireland. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:17:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Here are some questions I didn't get to answering on the text message doo hickey.  1. For the online exam, what chapters is it based on? Chapters 1-6 of Barro. 2. Say Hi to James that was in d New Zealand Jersey in d lodge last nite...we remember u!! Hi James, you stud. 3. Was ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/20/text-questions-in-todays-class/ The business cycle is a tricky concept. Economists have studied why economies experience large shifts in demand for good and services for centuries. Many indicators of economic performance (or lack thereof) exist, and as many theories exist to explain them. You'll also want to read Barro, chapter 8, before this lecture. Economists ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/20/economics-for-business-lecture-19-business-cycles-and-the-macroeconomy/ n{democracy:18} http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/20/economics-for-business-lecture-18-survey/ Following on from this article, as I argued on The Last Word last night, the question is not if, but when, the big banks are bailed out by the State. The operative question is where the money comes from, how long it is lent for, what conditions are attached to ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/19/bank-stocks-soar-after-market-capitalisation-mooted/ [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Mathematica 7 has just been released from Wolfram research today. I'm a huge fan and daily user of the technology in my research and my teaching, and the key feature this release will help me with is automated charting. Check out a video of ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/19/mathematica-7-released/ Last week we saw the first parts of a micro-founded macroeconomy. Following Barro, chapter 6, we defined four markets: the product market, the labour market, the money market, and the bond market. We assume there was only one type of economic agent: households. Firms are only  'placeholder' entities which consist of rental ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/19/economics-for-business-lecture-18-markets-and-the-macroeconomy-part-2/ I wrote this quarter's daft.ie report, full text is here. The main point of the report is that rents are down by 3%, but the supply of available rental properties is up by 133%. You don't need a PhD in economics to know you should expect further falls in rents ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/18/daftie-report/ Right click the link below to download the sample exam. There are only 5 short questions, and 2 longer ones in the sample, but it should give you a feel of the type of exam I'll be giving. Right Click this link to download the sample exam. http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/18/economics-of-eu-integration-sample-exam/ The figure below is taken from the latest construction employment index. The numbers point to a significant slow down in construction activity, and mirror the rises in unemployment, for a comparison, see here.  http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/17/employment-in-construction-dropped-18-in-one-month/ I'll be on The Right Hook today at 5pm if you're bored, ranting about this article and, I guess, Bank of Ireland's precipitous fall in its stock price.  A quick prediction: if you've a spare grand (and I don't), buy BOI now. http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/17/right-hook/ In this lecture, we will introduce students to the institutional, legal and political context of enlargement within the EU, and preview and examine the fifth enlargement's likely effects. We will examine the preconditions for reform, and develop a simple model of development, trade policy, and mobility. Over the weeks we've seen a series of ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/17/economics-of-eu-integration-lecture-10-political-economy-of-enlargement/ EC4333 Students should find this interesting: Nice one. Embedded Video Blogged with Flock http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/17/50-years-of-the-eu-2/ I think no, Tom O'Connor thinks yes. Fulltext below the fold.  Can the Government spend its way out of the economic crisis? HEADTOHEAD: Tom O' Connor argues yes, the Government should follow Gordon Brown and Barack Obama by borrowing money to stimulate the economy and create jobs, while Stephen Kinsella argues no, Ireland is far ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/17/can-the-government-spend-its-way-out-of-the-crisis/ Arthur Laffer is a rare economist. He has lived to see his theories enacted as policy at the highest level over many years, and those theories have been shown, everywhere they've been tried, to be false. Here he is debating Peter Schiff two years ago.  Listen to what both men are ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/16/wow-gigantic-fail/ T. Boone Pickens is a man with a plan: save the US from itself by creating an energy strategy for the next 10 years to wean the US off of foreign oil. Check out the presentation below. http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/16/man-with-a-plan/ The world's financial governance structures are in need of a comprehensive overhaul. The G20 ministers met over the weekend, and produced this document, which says, in effect, we'll try really, really hard to do something, m'kay? You find steaming phrases like this: We will: Continue our vigorous efforts and take whatever further ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/16/my-5-month-old-has-more-teeth-than-the-g20s-resolution-document/ What’s the answer? Huge fiscal stimulus, to fill the hole. More aggressive GSE lending. Maybe a “pre-commitment” by the Fed to keep rates low for an extended period — that’s a more genteel version of my “credibly promise to be irresponsible.” And maybe large-scale purchases of risky assets.Macro policy in ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/16/whats-the-right-macro-policy-when-the-fed-and-ecb-enters-a-liquidity-trap/ nn{democracy:15} http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/16/survey-of-economics-for-business-lecture-17/ In the last few lectures, we've looked at growth theory and the stakes involved in getting the basics wrong. We saw the Solow model's predictions about sustained capital accumulation ($$\Delta k/k$$): keep population growth low, keep savings ($$s$$) and therefore investment($$I$$) rather high, and try to curb depreciation on assets. ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/14/economics-for-business-lecture-17/ Click here to download the Problem Sheet Here is the Solow spreadsheet to use in question 1. Click here to download it. Instructions This problem set is worth 15\% of your final grade. Work in groups, but hand in your own work. Submit your work via email to neal.kilbane@ul.ie, and in ... http://www.stephenkinsella.net/2008/11/12/ec4333-problem-set-2-3/