This is unfortunately quite true. From any rational, decision-theoretic standpoint, the Economics profession under-invests in imperfectly identified analyses of big/important/relevant questions relative to well-identified but comparatively uninteresting questions.

Tipping point?

Hypocrisy at its best!

US mortgage payments-to-income ratio (blue, left hand side) at the same level as in 2007.

The rate of change is even more impressive: almost +60% increase against 12 months ago.

Housing affordability is as bad as it can get.

Amazing and crazy chart

US vs Canadian house prices to income

The EUR is not weak, it is the USD that is STRONG!

(1) New Working Paper: the fundamental driver of growth in modern economies, Total Factor Productivity (TFP), is linear, not exponential.

This is a paper I did not expect to write...

The US unemployment rate for adults without a high school diploma just hit its lowest level in history.

via Joey Politano 🏳️‍🌈

Nice exercise in modesty for economists by Martin Wolf, taking stock of old and new ideas (including by Alex Domash and Lawrence H. Summers
And it's so surprising to see inflation...
on.ft.com/3s8pAXL

The market has priced in seven 25-bps hikes this year and two more next year. #Fed tightening is in everyone's mind.

I though reminding people of what we used to call the 'hairy caterpillar' chart might be useful: The market has a poor record of predicting the Fed. 1/3

Not sure what % of Dems are aware how much they risk losing Hispanics over societal issues (or already are)

Interesting that no one, among the hundreds of people who write about the resource curse, has pointed out that possible oil and gas sanctions against Russia may force Russia to diversify into higher VA goods and thus could be a blessing in disguise.

30-year chart of German PPI

7. Irrational hatred of commodity stocks has created an opportunity unseen in centuries.

(albeit, n.b. this chart from Dec, these stocks gone up about 10-15% since then...)

h/t Plan Maestro $XLE $DBB $SPX

Thesis: the assembly line trained people for the top-down mass politics of the 1900s.

Today's workplace is network-based. With the crucial exception of China, which still builds things, any viable political ideology will scale up what people are doing on their devices.

Highways in China, 2008 vs 2020.

How did China manage this?
Big credit creation.

Total debt as % of GDP in China grew from 100% to 200% in this period, and some of it was directed to productive infrastructure investments.

If used productively, debt is not necessarily bad.

It seems that Bitcoin is not a hedge against geopolitical risks either.

3. Equity Market Liquidity...

'Regime Change'

h/t Stretching Spreads $SPX $SPY

Real GDP in the €zone; every crisis seems to have a permanent impact - hello hysteresis, something wrong with econ policy?

chart via Riccardo Trezzi

Russia... and others! But what about the stability of Middle East and African economies highly dependent on oil & gas revenues?