Publications by Steven Sabol

Job Search Part 4: Timing Beveridge Curve Movements During A Recession

25.04.2011

This economics blogger feels like he would be cheating the reader if he did not include recent work done by Barnichon and Figura (2010) on timing movements in the unemployment rate during recessions. That is why this is part 4 of my special 5 part mini-series on the modern job search and matching theory of unemployment.          In recessio...

5609 sym 14 img

Job Search Part 5: It’s Policy Time!

27.04.2011

This is the last post of this special mini-series on the job search and matching theory of unemployment. I will probably be extremely distracted for the next few months, including a month-long vacation in Europe to shake the horrors of undergrad off me. I am pleased to have provided the world with my take and interpretation of this theory, please...

18623 sym 2 img

The Rebirth

08.07.2011

Hey guys, I know that I have been gone for awhile now.  I just came back from a month long euro adventure so have no fear, I have plenty of time to devote to blogging now.  From this day forward, X.U. Economics will be known as The Dancing Economist.  WHY?!? Well first of all, Xavier University although they slightly endorsed this work, has do...

1645 sym 2 img

The Road to Default: Let’s Look at the Damage with a Rant.

08.07.2011

The following graph shows Real GDP as a percentage of the Gross Federal Debt.  FRED is the resource I frequently use for United States financial data and it serves us well here.  What is Gross Federal Debt? Well, its total government debt outstanding- including all the various agencies. Why do we compare real GDP with it? We want to hypothetic...

3458 sym 4 img

The Road to Default: We Crumble Like A Cookie

09.07.2011

What should we be expecting when the United States defaults and how will this unsavory process unfold? Well for one thing anticipate the downfall with a downgrade in the credit rating.  According to recent Bloomberg article in the event of a U.S. default, Standard & Poor’s would lower its sovereign top-level AAA ranking to a D, and Moody’s ...

2413 sym 4 img

The Road to Default: Who’s getting the most screwed?

10.07.2011

Let’s take a look at who gets the most screwed (who loses the most money) when bond prices collapse and the United States defaults.Well until recently only about 55% of treasury’s were held domestically. The rest was externally held by places like Japan and China.  Now something like 67% is held domestically, which means when shi...

1397 sym 4 img

The Road to Default: Debt Ratio Comparison’s With Previous Episodes

11.07.2011

In 2009, Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff wrote a book titled ,”This Time Is Different” about debt and financial crisis. One of their charts will provide a benchmark for us in our analysis.  This chart can be found on page 121 of the book and shows the ratios of public debt to revenue immediately preceding an external def...

1898 sym 6 img

Sir Sun Drop

11.07.2011

Okay so one of my best friends Sir Kris “Wespro” Wesslen has started a new blog and i think it’s so hilariously decked out with pompous amounts of hilarity that even a blind and brainless mouse would chuckle out of amusement. Please check it out here. It is hysterical, innovative, pointless and a break from the daily rigermaroll...

871 sym 2 img

The Road to Default: Deep DooDoo

16.07.2011

Okay so what is the situation at hand? Well the inevitable default of the United States of course.  The U.S. will default regardless of whether Congress raises the debt ceiling. You may be thinking the following: But how can he say such a thing? Is there anything we can do to stop it? There is no way that can be true!Let me convince ...

2683 sym 2 img

The Road to Default: Puppy Power!

18.07.2011

Although Congress can technically dilly dally until August 2nd to come up with an agreement and raise the debt ceiling- markets have anticipated the inevitable. They haven’t sat back and decided to wait till August 2nd to panic- they are already in “oh shit” mode.  On this note a recent CNBC interview with David Murrin suggests that I am n...

2945 sym 2 img