The Unassuming Economist

A new report by Lawrence Mishel says that “Uber, and gig work more broadly, [does not] represent the future of work.” “Uber drivers earn low wages and compensation and the total hours and compensation in the gig economy represent a very small share of total hours and compensation in the overall economy. These findings—and the fact that many Uber and other workers who provide personal services via a digital platform do so on a part-time basis primarily as a way to earn supplementary income—argue for a change in perspective. There has been much hype around Uber and the gig economy. But in our assessment, in any conference on the future of work, Uber and the gig economy deserve at most a workshop, not a plenary.”

On cross-country: 

• The Efficiency of Savings-linked Relationship Lending for Housing Finance – Journal of Housing Economics 
• Do House Prices Sink or Ride the Wave of Immigration? – IZA Institute of Labor Economics 
• Cultural similarities and housing market linkage: evidence from OECD countries – Springer 
• ¿Es Airbnb realmente culpable de la subida de precios en los alquileres? – GQ 
• ¿Cuáles son y en qué países están los barrios más caros de América Latina? – BBC 

On the US:

• Homeownership and Housing Wealth (Presentation, Remarks, Blog ) – Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• The Links Between Affordable Housing and Economic Mobility – Terner Center
• Faced with a housing crisis, California could further restrict supply – Economist 
• Boston Wants People To Build Tiny Houses In Their Yards – Citylab 
• What the Future of Affordable Housing Already Looks Like – Citylab
• Why universities became big-time real estate developers – Slate 
• Rent-Control Initiative Could Obliterate California’s Housing Markets – Reason 
• Rising Home Prices Lead To Worries Of Another Housing Market Bubble – NPR 
• Housing: High Prices, Few New Units – Mises Institute 
• Ben Carson vs. the Fair Housing Act – New York Times 
• Wall Street Is Pouring Money Into House Flipping – Slate
• Why Don’t People Who Can’t Afford Housing Just Move Where It’s Cheaper? – New York Times
• California Today: In San Francisco’s Housing Lottery, It’s the Luck of the Draw – New York Times
• Housing Tax Credit Qualified Action Plans Affect the Location of Affordable Housing – National Low Income Housing Coalition 
• Rising Rates Vs. The Housing Market – NPR 
• The Seattle Area Is Solving One of Housing’s Biggest Challenges – Slate 
• How Will the Gig Economy Shape Mortgage Lending? – Fannie Mae 
• The Impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Local Home Values – Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
• The American Housing Crisis Might Be Our Next Big Political Issue – Citylab 

On other countries:

• [Australia] Stricter lending restrictions threaten housing markets in Australia – Global Property Guide 
• [Australia] Inquiry into social impact investment for housing and homelessness outcomes – Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute
• [Canada] Through the Roof: The High Cost of Barriers to Building New Housing in Canadian Municipalities – C.D. Howe Institute
• [Canada] The World’s Hottest Luxury-Property Market Is a Sleepy Canadian City – Bloomberg 
• [Chile] Estudio demuestra que más de la mitad de los santiaguinos no puede comprar una vivienda – CNN 
• [China] China’s property market to steadily cool in 2018 – government think tank – Reuters 
• [Hong Kong] Could a Colonial-Era Golf Club Solve Hong Kong’s Housing Woes? – New York Times 
• [India] Housing demand in Indian metros: a hedonic approach – Emerald 
• [Ireland] Cost Rental Housing – A Model for Ireland? – NERI 
• [Spain] Spain is cracking down on Airbnb, just in time for the tourist season – Quartz 
• [United Kingdom] Britain’s housing supply is perking up at last – Economist 
• [United Kingdom] How to make the case for community-led housing on public land – New Economics Foundation

Photo by Aliis Sinisalu

A new Bloomberg post by Anchalee Worrachate and David Goodman says that: “While policy makers insist the global economy’s low-inflation expansion looks intact despite a first quarter slowdown, investors are presenting challenges. Rising bond yields, a jump in the price of oil beyond $70 a barrel, skittish stocks and cracks in credit could all end up undermining growth.” “The worry is that unless markets start buying into the more optimistic outlook, their pessimism will become self-fulfilling by causing consumers and companies to lose confidence and slow spending. The Bank for International Settlements warned last year that the next recession will perhaps be triggered by a financial cycle bust, mirroring the events of 2001 and 2008.”

This post also notes my research that “the optimism of analysts may be cold comfort to some investors. A 2014 study by Prakash Loungani of the International Monetary Fund found that not one of 49 recessions suffered around the world in 2009 had been predicted by the consensus of economists a year earlier.”

Continue reading here. My Vox post is available here. My new paper on forecasting recessions is available here.

The IEO just released an Evaluation Update Report revisiting its 2007 evaluation of Structural Conditionality in IMF-Supported Programs. The report was published along with a statement by the Managing Director.

“The evaluation found that, notwithstanding the streamlining initiative launched in 2000, structural conditionality was still used extensively and program documents were not sufficiently clear about the criticality of structural conditions. Moreover, the report concluded that most structural conditions had little structural depth, only about half were implemented on time, and compliance was only weakly correlated with subsequent progress in structural reforms.”

“Following the evaluation, use of IMF lending surged in the context of the global financial crisis in 2008 and the euro area crisis in 2010. Use of structural conditionality in euro area crisis programs raised issues related to working with regional partners. Fund program design and implementation over this period was informed by revisions to staff guidance in 2008, 2010, and 2014, and the Review of Conditionality completed in 2012.”

The new IMF Regional Economic Outlook says that “Latin America has made impressive progress in reducing inequality and poverty since the turn of the century, although it remains the most unequal region in the world. The declines in inequality and poverty were particularly pronounced for commodity exporters during the commodity boom. Much of the progress reflected real labor income gains for lower-skilled workers, especially in services, with a smaller but positive role for government transfers. With the commodity boom over, a tighter fiscal envelope, and poverty rates already edging up in some countries, policies will have to be carefully recalibrated to sustain social progress. Increasing personal income tax revenues while rebalancing spending could help maintain key social transfers and infrastructure spending. Better targeting of social transfers and reforming decentralization frameworks also have an important role to play.”