James D. Hamilton
James D. Hamilton's Latest Articles | 217
Bernanke Says No Change for Now
In testimony before Congress today, Bernanke explained why the Fed’s large-scale asset purchases are continuing. Inflation as measured by the CPI or PCE deflator... Read »
Sovereign Debt Concerns in 2013
Interest rates on government debt for a number of European countries– notably Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain– shot up considerably during... Read »
How Fannie Mae Made Its Profit
Mortgage buyer and insurer Fannie Mae was in the news again this week. First, let me review a little of the history of how we got here. Fannie Mae (otherwise known... Read »
The Soaring Stock Market
Broad market indicators like the S&P500 have been making all-time nominal highs. What’s the significance of that for investors and the economy? S&P500.... Read »
The Contributions of Reinhart and Rogoff
With all the heated discussions of the last two weeks, it is important to keep perspective on which issues are in dispute and which are not. Let me state plainly... Read »
Reinhart-Rogoff Data Problems
The methods and conclusions of an influential paper by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff published in 2010 have recently been challenged by Thomas Herndon, Michael... Read »
Growing Student Debt
I was curious to take a look at the growing student debt load and the government’s exposure to potential repayment issues. A recent analysis of individual... Read »
Who is Holding All Those U.S. Dollars?
If recent trends continue, in a few months there will be $1.2 trillion in Federal Reserve notes (otherwise known as dollar bills) in circulation. Who is holding... Read »
Is the Recovery Dying?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the number of Americans with jobs only increased by 88,000 in March on a seasonally adjusted basis. That’s... Read »
The Death of Peak Oil
“Peak oil is dead,” Rob Wile declared last week. Colin Sullivan says it has “gone the way of the Flat Earth Society”, writing Those behind... Read »







