tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post8639642752763951488..comments2024-03-28T03:16:14.104-04:00Comments on Noahpinion: Growth vs. static efficiencyNoah Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09093917601641588575noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-64222306102757508352015-11-06T11:09:50.109-05:002015-11-06T11:09:50.109-05:00I should add that of course Europeans work shorter...I should add that of course Europeans work shorter hours than Americans. I think that a few years or more back we worked 50% more than Germans thought that may have closed up some now.Denis Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11833367196756465896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-78578383003615289912015-11-06T10:18:22.566-05:002015-11-06T10:18:22.566-05:00Got my answer this morning at: http://angrybearbl...Got my answer this morning at: http://angrybearblog.com/2015/11/wait-maybe-europeans-are-as-rich-as-americans.html<br /><br />" Imagine, rather, that the cost-of-production estimation method is underestimating the value of government goods — just as it would (wildly) underestimate private goods if they were measured that way. Now do the math: EU built out governments encompassing about 40% of GDP. The U.S. is about 25%. Think: America’s insanely expensive health care and higher education, much or most of it measured at market prices for GDP purposes, not cost of production as in Europe. Add in our extraordinary spending on financial services — spending which is far lower in Europe, with its more-comprehensive government pension and retirement programs. Feel free to add to the list.<br /><br />"All those European government services are measured at cost of production, while equivalent U.S. services are measured at (much higher) market cost. Is it any wonder that U.S. GDP looks higher? "Denis Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11833367196756465896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-66557037198584903062015-11-06T10:15:45.720-05:002015-11-06T10:15:45.720-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Denis Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11833367196756465896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-90153108977313824012015-11-05T23:05:04.929-05:002015-11-05T23:05:04.929-05:00But the diminishing returns to capital are due to ...But the diminishing returns to capital are due to the diffusion of technology, they are flip sides of the same coin. Think about it...what is the rate of return to a monopolist of an important invention, as opposed to one that becomes open source?Ray Lopezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11134761834999705305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-75112546169350260222015-11-05T16:17:35.559-05:002015-11-05T16:17:35.559-05:00Noah,
Would you say economic policy in, say, Vene...Noah,<br /><br />Would you say economic policy in, say, Venezuela is causing a collapse in the trend rate of growth, or is that just an artifact of shifting to a different level of prosperity, and that the underlying growth rate remains unchanged?Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03796339415643845682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-83207845398661535192015-11-05T16:04:45.148-05:002015-11-05T16:04:45.148-05:00" -- the U.S. is about one-third richer than..." -- the U.S. is about one-third richer than the large rich nations of Europe and East Asia. Those differences probably do reflect differences in economic efficiency. " [from the Bloomberg article]<br /><br />I'm curious why the US is more efficient given our much greater inequality: slowing the velocity of spending at the top (1%) because of overabundance and lowering the productivity of the bottom due to inferior education and opportunities.<br /><br />During the "Great Compression" good times ran pretty much on auto-pilot (if you were white). The auto-pilot mechanism: high union density.Denis Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11833367196756465896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-27360619500034137992015-11-05T10:39:56.296-05:002015-11-05T10:39:56.296-05:00I think what you are doing here is unethical.
Now...I think what you are doing here is unethical.<br /><br />Now you have my identity in this IP address, you know what I'm saying. Are you helping me or hurting me? Doesn't matter, you're deceptive.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-77220621583700329892015-11-05T04:10:56.958-05:002015-11-05T04:10:56.958-05:00Trouble with basic research is of course that it i...Trouble with basic research is of course that it is a public good. Every country benefits, not just the innovator (ask Bell Telephone and Xerox about that). If you want YOUR country to benefit relative to others, then you need to ensure that that research is implemented faster in your country - and I would guess that investment in education and infrastructure are the keys.reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958786975015285323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-76365540819055946842015-11-05T04:08:21.174-05:002015-11-05T04:08:21.174-05:00Noah,
the standard of commentary here is really a...Noah,<br /> the standard of commentary here is really appalling. Don't know what can be done to improve it, although banning or putting commentary limits on some individuals might be a good idea.<br />reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958786975015285323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-10564705682104362402015-11-05T03:32:25.977-05:002015-11-05T03:32:25.977-05:00So if you were made economic policy czar of the US...So if you were made economic policy czar of the US for the next 25 years, what three major changes would you make?John Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-27842748517249601282015-11-04T20:52:16.860-05:002015-11-04T20:52:16.860-05:00"Sure they exist, they're just a lot smal..."Sure they exist, they're just a lot smaller relative to the overall wealth level than in poor countries. A poor country can grow by 10 or even 15 percent if it does the right policies. Could we boost our growth by more than a couple percentage points even if we cleaned up a lot of our inefficiencies? I guess I can't rule it out, but it seems like it would be a LOT harder than in a poor country." -Noah Smith on EconLog Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-86670976340953772502015-11-04T16:29:56.979-05:002015-11-04T16:29:56.979-05:00The catch up in Solow Growth Model has nothing to ...The catch up in Solow Growth Model has nothing to do with diffusion of technology. It has everything to do with diminishing returns to capital.YouNotSneaky!https://www.blogger.com/profile/06378267534638281151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-24149594586554761622015-11-04T11:42:24.578-05:002015-11-04T11:42:24.578-05:00If technology drives long terms growth, what drive...If technology drives long terms growth, what drives technological innovation? Research, especially early-stage research, right? Where does most of the funding for such research come from? <br /><br />Seems like a real "growth" policy would start with greater government funding of research.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00848821084269314215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-50827085472793064262015-11-04T00:56:02.067-05:002015-11-04T00:56:02.067-05:00"(and the picture they use of John is also no..."(and the picture they use of John is also not the best; sorry about that)"<br /><br />LOL!... you weren't kidding there!Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-47790923347786935642015-11-03T23:44:14.145-05:002015-11-03T23:44:14.145-05:00@John S. - there's a professional economist I ...@John S. - there's a professional economist I like, but I rather not put his name here since we've corresponded using my real name (I'm a manager business type with a background in science, not an economist). Using this nym I like Tyler Cowen and I trade emails with him from time to time. Also from the internet I like this guy: http://informationtransfereconomics.blogspot.com/ <br /><br />My philosophy is that the economy is non-linear, bounded by an envelope that appears linear at times, long term. Like the stock market, that short term cannot be predicted but long term historically (for the last 100 yrs or so) averages roughly 7% a year or less (Siegal's rule of thumb). Therefore, Sumner's b.s. actually has value, in its placebo effect. Google the experiments where productivity went up based on turning the lights on, brighter, and off, dimmer, at a factory. Both times productivity went up, which cannot be based on physics but just psychology. I've talked to old timers who experienced the Great Depression and they say Roosevelt's 'fireside chats' were a big help in turning the Great Depression around. So, yeah, economists are the modern witch doctors and they play a useful role in society, sad but true.Ray Lopezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11134761834999705305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-15066791067621467282015-11-03T18:34:22.379-05:002015-11-03T18:34:22.379-05:00Their productivity per hour is substantially highe...<i>Their productivity per hour is substantially higher than ours...</i><br /><br />I think this addressed by Bill Lewis in <i>The Power of Productivity</i>. He notes that in France some low productivity jobs which exist in the US such as bagging groceries are not found or very rare. Remove these marginal jobs and your productivity numbers go up. Colinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03573575140584770666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-39522167708088480902015-11-03T18:09:35.847-05:002015-11-03T18:09:35.847-05:00S P A MS P A Mpithomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13997094225496018110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-71226912948177486842015-11-03T18:08:39.457-05:002015-11-03T18:08:39.457-05:00Yeah, but that's about levels, not growth. Wor...Yeah, but that's about levels, not growth. Working hours in France have not been a factor in French growth/decline relative to the United States since 2002.<br /><br />https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=2p93pithomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13997094225496018110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-14406139603699211822015-11-03T14:56:16.060-05:002015-11-03T14:56:16.060-05:00"If you doubt my argument, consider what the ..."If you doubt my argument, consider what the world would look like if tax rates produced permanent differences in growth. Countries with tax rates just 1 percent lower than their neighbors, or regulations slightly less onerous, would eventually be infinitely richer. That's not only implausible, but it also doesn't fit the facts."<br /><br />Noah: "Look, raise taxes to 99.9%! It's just a one-time negative bump, then we'll return to good long-term, sustainable growth." Obviously not. <br /><br />Technological progress - both the rate of knowledge acquisition and adoption - is a result of policy, even tax policy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09445489809839987633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-67325605144245576632015-11-03T13:33:08.479-05:002015-11-03T13:33:08.479-05:00Ray, is there an economist who you like?
Also, w...Ray, is there an economist who you like? <br /><br />Also, what word or phrase you describe your overall economic philosophy? (Based on your comments at Sumner's, I think I can safely cross "Market Monetarist" off the list).John Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-44983192769066818952015-11-03T12:35:56.084-05:002015-11-03T12:35:56.084-05:00Well, South Korea has a much smaller govt. than th...Well, South Korea has a much smaller govt. than the US and Japan's is of similar size.<br /><br />Yes, centers of globalized industries can survive a predatory govt., but it's of no instructive value for anything.<br />As to Texas, I might prefer CT, but vast numbers of people choose Texas over any other state, seeing how it has attracted the highest level of inmigration over the recent years.Krzyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15794655390770135247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-63211541660812628832015-11-03T12:29:32.681-05:002015-11-03T12:29:32.681-05:00Basically, the policies Cochrane advocates like ta...Basically, the policies Cochrane advocates like tax cut, eliminating regulation will lead to level effect, NOT growth effect.Santosh Dashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02016226999263087762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-67997123705375951462015-11-03T12:26:49.465-05:002015-11-03T12:26:49.465-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Santosh Dashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02016226999263087762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-47891615844500812582015-11-03T11:39:40.739-05:002015-11-03T11:39:40.739-05:00@Felipe - Read about the "Solow Growth Model...@Felipe - Read about the "Solow Growth Model" on Wikipedia. What Noah Smith is taking about is not controversial at all. The only thing you might quibble with is that the "long run" Noah Smith is talking about stretches into the decades, but historical facts show, as Smith says, that indeed countries more or less catch up with one another rather quickly, due to the diffusion of technology that drives the Solow Growth Model. Ray Lopezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11134761834999705305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-26927744066092945832015-11-03T11:35:36.891-05:002015-11-03T11:35:36.891-05:00Well Cochrane's a good guy perhaps if you'...Well Cochrane's a good guy perhaps if you're Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, aka Kenneth Duda, with a plan to rule the world by fostering cheap money on the people. What does Duda own that makes him so hell-bent to fund crazy schemes like Sumner's NGDPLT, to potentially debase the money supply? Probably real estate.Ray Lopezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11134761834999705305noreply@blogger.com