Home Sweet Home: Or Required Refuge

There is the Rule of Threes which states that: “Humans can survive three weeks without food, three days without water…” and so on. I was reminded of this recently when being suddenly forced to find emergency shelter. So much goes into providing housing including construction methods, fuel sources, safety systems, and more. This also led me to think about housing as a right and how some people are lacking in this essential service and why. In this post we delve into the thinking of Henry George on providing equitably for land use and housing access.

Living Equitably with Tech at Any Age

For all those kids out there from 1 to 92 who need to use technology, how do you make it work for yourself? Are you really connected to the society or is society passing you by? This post explores the “red shift” inherent in our technological environment and how the pace of change and complexity it generates leaves a Digital Divide and an economic gap in its wake.

Fiscal Policies for a Low-Carbon Economy

Climate disasters are occurring with ever higher frequency, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people worldwide.

Can Diaspora Bonds Supercharge Development Investment?

Over the past two decades one of the most intriguing ideas in development finance has been the proposal that developing nations can raise substantial funds from their expatriate communities by creating diaspora bonds.

Tech To Table: Global Trade and Your Smart Kitchen

When I wake up each morning, I like to make myself a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. I normally do not think twice about where I start my day. My handy and cozy kitchen.

Do inflation expectations even matter anymore?

We got a big CPI print today, 5.0%. That’s above expectations. And, we saw a mild uptick in US Treasury bond yields on the back of the number. But I am wondering whether it really matters. Let me explain.

Lions and Tigers and Technology: Why new tech (like vaccines) scare us

Since the earliest times, technologies have been a two-edged sword – literally. They cut both ways. We all remember in our Jungian collective unconscious the scene where the exceedingly useful wheel – now on the nasty armed chariot – scares the fleeing peasant. Boy, the inventor of that technology sure never intended for that to unfold.

The macro crystal ball: macro framing and historical antecedents

Listen, I want to start this month with a thought piece rather than a data piece. And this is going to be a pretty long post. But I think it’s important because I plan to build on it.

How transitory is transitory, housing edition?

In yesterday’s post, the question was this: how bad do inflationary impulses have to get – even if they’re just transitory – to matter? The Fed is telling you they have to get pretty bad for it to react. And with US Treasury bond yields sat at 1.58%, the Treasury market is telling you the same thing.

Anwar Shaikh speaking at the Oxford Economics Society

Anwar Shaikh gives a talk at the Oxford Economics Society on his argument for a general theoretical and empirical alternative to both neoclassical and post-Keynesian economics.