Economics Links (9 June 2009)

Sorry for not posting this here last week.

Angry Bear:
Untitled post on the Unemployment Report

Current Recession vs the 1980-82 Recession


Econbrowser:
DeGlobalization: Transitory or Persistent?

Not a Robust Recovery

James Pethokoukis: "An Improving Job Market"

Output, Employment and Industrial Production in the "1980-82 Recession"

More on Bank Lending Data

High Anxiety (about Interest and Inflation Rates)


Economist's View:
Too Big to be Restructured (The theme of this essay ties in very well with my post on Mikhail Gorbachev's essay from the other day, "We Had Our Perestroika. It's High Time for Yours.".)

Contributions to the Change in Nonfarm Payroll Employment

Shiller: Home Prices May Keep Falling

Uneven Unemployment Rates

"VAT Time?"

Bank Mergers

"Reducing Inequality: Put the Brakes on Globalization?"


Financial Times:
The ‘part-timezation’ of America


Reuters:
China influence to grow faster than most expect: Soros


Real Property Alpha:
California Home Prices in Ounces of Gold


True/Slant:
NASCAR helped GM down its path of self-destruction ("Better equipped to compete? How ironic, given NASCAR’s role in helping the auto industry race down its path of self-destruction. Major auto companies used NASCAR for years to push cars and trucks with poor fuel economy numbers. The sport, in some ways, came to symbolize America’s embrace of consumption.")


VoxEU:
Why is Japan so heavily affected by the global economic crisis? An analysis based on the Asian international input-output tables

Does climate change affect economic growth?


Washington Post:
Book Review: The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street

Gold and the U.S. Dollar

A good article over at Afraid to Trade.com with a long-term analysis (since 2000) of the relationship between gold and the U.S. dollar. Some excerpts:

Notice the shift that occurred at the ‘turn of the century’ where gold prices were at their lowest levels of the last decade and the US Dollar Index (along with the Stock Market) was making new highs. The market shifted in 2001 (as the recession began) and the price of gold (per ounce) has never looked back.

The US Dollar, on the other hand, is another story. The Dollar index peaked at 120 and is now 41% lower than it was at its peak. Gold, on the other hand, rose from $250 (per ounce) to a peak above $1,000 an ounce, rising 400% in the same 8 year period.

This also means that the value of a US dollar is worth much less in terms of gold prices than it was in 2,000. In 2000, if you were offered $1,000 in gold that you stored away, if you cashed in today, you would get back $4,000 (if converted into dollars). Of course, those dollars are worth less today than they were then, so it may be better to keep the investment in gold!

...

If the US Dollar Index reverses trend, then expect gold’s trend to pause or reverse as well. Until that happens, the current trend remains in force.

Check out the whole article!

HT: The Bonddad Blog