On cognitive functions interrupted (and the growth of two retail corporations in the US)

I haven’t been able to write much since the equivalent of a permanent shock affected my production function as well as its slope (break ups are always hard, being the dumpee is even worse, in the long run we are all dead).

I’m slowly regaining use of my cognitive functions. For I don’t want to leave Ben alone in this blog any longer, I thought of posting two maps showing the growth of two retail corporations in the US: Wal Mart (1962-2006) and Target (1962-2008).

This might interest fans of urban and regional economics (or not). Anyway, I promise that the quality of my contributions to this awesome blog will increase. Just have a little faith on me.

A’Hearn B. (2005) The not-so-mighty finance

A’Hearn, Brian (2005) Finance-led divergence in the regions of Italy. Financial History Review, 12/1: 7-41.

After the unification, the Italian South did not catch up with the North, on the contrary they engaged on a divergent path as the per capita income gap increased from 15-25% to 55% in the first 50 years (p.7). This continuing disparity may be explained by the sore state of the southern banks which could have been unable to support and finance local development (finance-led growth argument; p.9). However, initial evidence seems not to support this hypothesis, as the share of the Mezzogiorno in the banking activity of the country was in line with the relative economic weight of the region (p.10).

On the rise and decadence of Detroit (1950-2009)

Detroit, 1950-2009

Time Magazine has an interesting article by Daniel Okrent about Detroit’s fate. What was once known as America’s Arsenal of Democracy and became the fourth largest city in the United States, shows signs of accelerated decay. Unemployment rate is almost 30%, business is all but (almost) shutdown, and the town of Robocop has nothing but a gloomy future. What is relevant in Okrent’s piece is his discussion on the political economy of Detroit’s failure. Populist politicians, overconfident automobile companies and pampered unionized workers intertwined to make of this Michigan city a urban disaster. Check out the pics of Detroit’s remains by Sean Hemmerle. They’re quite scary.

Sessions of the Second Latin American Economic History Congress

Here is the list of preapproved sessions  of the Second Latin American Economic History Congress (CLADHE-II), to be held in Mexico City on February 3-5, 2010. To submit a paper to any of the sessions, you have to go here.

Webshopping

Today, Chris [I couldn't find his last name] at History of Economics Playground posted a note on a recent seminar in Duke University about Krugman’s article on the state of economics (mentioned here).

Speaking of Krugman, he wrote a small post on the history of contemporary macroeconomics. It’s worth reading if you already read the aforementioned article.

And here’s a Short History of Small Times in Wall Street by David Silver, former president of the Investment Company Institute (1977-1991), on the legality of the profits of reducing the time invested in buying and selling stocks.

Web shopping: On Krugman and Expedición 1808

Ben, Olivier and Bob

Disclaimer: Sorry about the delay in completing this post (holidays and tons of work impeded its prompt publication).

Here’s an article by Paul Krugman on the state of economics and the failure of most mainstream economists to imagine the worst-case scenario (i. e., the world financial crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession of our days). Here are some reactions of Krugman on the reception of the piece in the blogosphere. And here’s a great post by Beatrice Chérrier at History of Economics Playground exploring Krugman’s ambiguities on the methodology of macroeconomics.

Now, on to diminishing my credibility. Here are the ads of the TV show I am part of. The feature was recorded in the first semester of 2008.  It will run on Saturdays and Tuesdays at 19 h in NatGeo, the National Geographic channel covering from Tijuana to Ushuaia. I have not heard enough reactions to the show to have an statistically significant image of what people think about it (so far partiality prevails) If you live in the Western hemisphere and have the chance to watch it, I’ll be more than glad to hear your comments on my unexpected debut in television.

On developed and emerging economies, 1970-2050

The World Economy, 1970-2050

Here’s a neat visualization by Joe Swainson on the size and position of developed and emerging economies in the world, from 1970 to 2050, as measured by GDP.

Found via Visualizing Economics.

This week in Economic History (August 31-September 5, 2009)

From August the 31st to September the 4th, there will be a Summer University in Greece on History, Philosophy and Economic Thought.

From Wednesday to Friday, the 41st UK History of Economic Thought Conference will take place at the University of Manchester.You can contact Terry Peach for more information.

The 8th Conference of the European Historical Economics Society will take place on Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th. The Conference is organized by the European Historical Economics Society, and is chaired by Marc Flandreau in the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, in Switzerland.

And well, on to some personal advertising. On Saturday the 5th (a day after my 25th birthday!), a TV show where I participated, Expedición 1808, will air in the National Geographic Channel in Latin America. Expedición 1808 is a “one-of-its-kind show, following the journey [expedición] of seven Mexico City youngsters in seven Hispanic American countries, to determine the path and relevance of ideas that gave birth to the independence wars of the 19th century” [taken from the press brief].

Out of the official aim of the show, I will talk about some aspects of economics and economic history: from sugar production nearby Caracas to smuggling and free trade inValparaíso, then and now… Here’s an advance of the show.

Stay tuned for news on web broadcasts…

On [growing] American inequality

How much household income has received the top 0.01% of Americans since 1913?
Here’s a graph in Paul Krugman’s blog showing it.

The richest 0.01% individuals in America and their income

The graph was made with the tables and figures updated to 2007 prepared by Emmanuel Saez, Professor of Economics at the University of California at Berkeley and the most recent winner of the John Bates Clark medal.

On hyperinflations

Here’s a chart by Steve H. Hanke and Alex K. F. Kwok comparing the Zimbabwean hyperinflation with other periods  of [hyper]accelerated growth of price levels in the 20th century.

The current Zimbabwean hyperinflation is second only to the Hungarian episode after WWII. Then, prices doubled each 15 hours.

Found via Alejandro Villagomez’s blog.

Mexican Economic History courses online

Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity mural, Panel 3, City College of San Francisco.

I have finished the last details of the website for the Mexican Economic History course  at UNAM, of which I am a teaching assistant. Here is part I and here is part II. I’m pretty sure the bibliography in the course is a neat overview of recent economic history in this country.

By the way, here’s an article published in the Washington Poston about rising unequality in the USA by Gregory Clark, Professor of Economics at UC Davis and author of A Farewell to Alms. A Brief Economic History of the World.

Web shopping: Lucas, Skidelsky, Statistics, Protectionism, and Male Purses (!)

• Robert Lucas, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and 1995 Nobel Prize in Economics, wrote a welcome defense of the predictive power of economics-as-it-is, on occasion of The Economist’s recent criticism on the discipline.
• Lord Robert Skidelsky, Keynes’s biographer and Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick, also argues in defence of economics in spite of the Queen’s interpellation to the discipline. Here you can read it in the Financial Times and here in his personal website.
• An interesting article in the NYT on statistics as a profession that faces growing demand and even better salaries.
• A neat note in The Economist on “The Slide to Protectionism in the Great Depression: Who Succumbed and Why“, an NBER working paper by Barry Eichengreen, Professor of Economics and Political Science in the University of California at Berkeley, and Douglas Irwin, Professor of Arts and Sciences in Dartmouth College.
• An article in The Economist on a new Museum of Handbags and Purses in Amsterdam, with historical evidence of the non-metrosexuality of male purses. Here’s an excerpt:

The very first object on display—the oldest in the collection—proves that man bags are nothing new. It is a 16th-century pouch made of creamy white kid skin. The surface is decorated with rosettes and 18 tiny pockets of the same soft leather. It was probably made for a travelling merchant. At the time men’s clothes did not have pockets, and the bag provided a quickly accessible sorting system for multiple currencies, each pocket reserved for the coins of a particular city.

That’s it for now. I can’t wait to read Ben’s opinion on the WEHC in Utrecht.