“The economy” can seem like a confusing abstraction, but it’s simply how people try to get more of what they want. They invent new technologies, they work harder or smarter, they remake the land with cities, mines, and farms—and they fight each other. They organize into governments, businesses, investment funds, labor unions, homeowners’ associations, and even criminal gangs.
It’s impossible to understand what’s going on without understanding these entities, their motivations, and how they interact. Paying attention to the economy isn’t just for traders, central bankers, or academics, but for everyone who wants to be informed about the world.
And that’s where The Overshoot comes in.
If I had to pick one chart to tell the story of the U.S. economy since the end of WWII, it would be this:
The average American produced 2.2% more goods and services each year from the beginning of 1947 until the end of 2006. Despite violent business cycles and a range of countervailing forces,1 the U.S. economy always managed to stay within 8% of its stable long-term trend—until the financial crisis.
The defining feature of the crisis wasn’t the severity of the initial hit to incomes and production, but what happened next: nothing. There was no snapback. There was no “Morning in America.” The average American’s real income didn’t even return to its pre-crisis level until the middle of 2013....
....MUCH MORE
Although it is early days for his substack he's off to a good start.
HT: FT Alphaville's Further Reading post, July 4
And dozens of visits with Mr. Klein during his time at FT Alphaville:
Questions Americans Are Asking: What Size Are Matthew Klein's Shoes?
Investment Banks As Marxist Paradise
I think I could learn to like this young Matthew Klein fellow....
Ooh, ooh: Matthew Klein on New York Fed Head Calling For More Cashout Refi
Expanding on and contextualizing Monday's "New York Fed Chief Dudley Has An Idea — Homeowners Should Tap Into Equity".In Which FT Alphaville's Matthew Klein Flexes His Clickbait Muscles
Aaarrrggghhh: I Can't Get Matthew Klein's Song Out Of My Head
Leaving the office after posting "Pray For FT Alphaville's Matthew Klein" I found myself humming Jingle Bells à la Klein:
Rolling down the curve
With my Eurodollar strips
Making tons of money
‘til the Fed hikes 50 bps!
...MORE
Matthew Klein writing at FT Alphaville:...
See also:
The FT's Jamie Powell and Barron's Matthew Klein Both Do Cameos at Upfina: "ESG: Robots > Humans"
Ha! I'm beginning to think of the FT Alphaville peeps, current and former, as sort of like the Trilateral commission.
Or maybe the Illuminati.
Strategically embedded around the world to spread the doctrine of Alphavilleism.
