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.

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.

More on Lehman Brothers (1850-2008)

Before arcane CDOs imploded...

The Wall Street Journal presents a neat infographic on the new jobs of Lehman’s executives after its bankruptcy in September 2009.

Found via Chart Porn.

On Lehman Brothers

Those were happy times...

After the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve denied to rescue Lehman Brothers, the once almighty investment bank failed a year ago, beginning what would turn to be the mother of all financial crises.

Here is an exclusive Reuters interview with Richard Fuld, the president of Lehman at the time of its bankruptcy.

The New York Times has published three good pieces on the issue: ‘An Epidemic of Capital Destruction’, Tales From Lehman’s Crypt (showing the lives and fates of three former Lehman employees) and Lehman Had to Die So Global Finance Could Live. It also has a neat visualization showing the market capitalization of the biggest financial firms in Wall Street from October 9, 2007 to September 11, 2009.

The Economist’s Buttonwood has recently posted an interactive map showing global indebtedness, from 1999 to 2011. It’s worth visiting.

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: Schwartz’s view of the Fed’s monetary policy

Professor Schwartz

Recently Michael Hirsh interviewed monetary historian Anna Schwartz for Newsweek. She doesn’t sound happy at all about the state of monetary policy in the face of the financial crisis. Excerpts:

Anna Schwartz is 93 and has been working at the same place since 1941. She’s that rarity in economics, or indeed any field: a living legend from another era who hasn’t lost a step mentally and who grasps everything that’s going on around her in the present. Or at least she seems to—but more on that later. Schwartz is one of the most renowned monetary scholars in the world. She’s the woman who authored, with Milton Friedman, The Monetary History of the United States—the book that launched the free-market counterattack against Keynesianism in the early ’60s. And now, as she surveys the wreckage of the last two years, Schwartz has one thought: if only Milton were here. “Ever since his death I have lamented the fact that he has not been around to express his views on what’s going on,” she told me the other day at her mid-Manhattan office at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Web shopping: On Minsky revisited

"…the first thing we do when we discuss Prof. Minsky is show reverence."

Via Brad DeLong: Here is a nice entry by Interactive Investor on financial cycles and crisis. The chart above is theirs.

Also, don’t hesitate to read this (fake) Goldman Sachs Internal Memo.