The Unassuming Economist

According to a new report by Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward: “The overwhelming importance of having a job for happiness is evident throughout the analysis, and holds across all of the world’s regions. When considering the world’s population as a whole, people with a job evaluate the quality of their lives much more favorably than those who are unemployed. The importance of having a job extends far beyond the salary attached to it, with non-pecuniary aspects of employment such as social status, social relations, daily structure, and goals all exerting a strong influence on people’s happiness.” Continue reading here.

A new report by Richard Easterlin, a pioneer of the study of the link between income and happiness, looks into whether China’s income growth has made people happier. He writes: “In the past quarter century China’s real GDP per capita has multiplied over five times, an unprecedented feat.1 By 2012 virtually every urban household had, on average, a color TV, air conditioner, washing machine, and refrigerator. Almost nine in ten had a personal computer, and one in five, an automobile. Rural households lagged somewhat behind urban, but these same symptoms of affluence, which were virtually nonexistent in the countryside in 1990, had become quite common by 2012.2 In the face of such new-found plenitude, one would suppose that the population’s feelings of well-being would have enjoyed a similar multiplication. Yet, as will be discussed, well-being today is probably less than in 1990.” The full report is worth reading.

IMF’s latest report on Belgium says:

“Further macro-prudential actions may be needed to address pockets of vulnerability in the housing market. Concerns relate to the continued growth in house prices, combined with rising household indebtedness and significant shares of risky mortgage lending practices, as well as strong expansion in mortgage credit. Various overvaluation estimates are in the range of 0–20 percent. Policy actions could address these issues from various angles:

Direct remedies. In addition to the existing 5-percentage-point add-on to certain domestic mortgage risk weights, the NBB plans to impose additional capital buffers targeted at riskier loans, i.e. mortgage loans with loan-to-value (LTV) ratio higher than 80 percent, effective May 2017 (pending approval from the European authorities). Staff welcomed these measures and called for continued close monitoring of real estate market developments, including possible search-for-yield behavior in the housing market, and discussed possible further measures such as LTV or debt service to income (DSTI) limits to more directly target vulnerable borrowers.

Other buffers. An additional capital cushion, the capital conservation buffer, will also be raised by 2019 by eight banks deemed domestically systemically important, among which are the large mortgage lenders. Another buffer that could be deployed should strong credit growth persist is the counter-cyclical capital buffer, which is currently set to zero. On balance, staff considers this appropriate, in view of the various estimates of the credit gap of near zero6. Close monitoring is nevertheless warranted.”

 

From iMFdirect by Rabah Arezki and Akito Matsumoto:

In November 2014, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to maintain output despite a perceived global glut of oil. The result was a steep decline in price.

Two years later, on November 30, 2016, the organization took a different tack and committed to a six-month, 1.2 million barrel a day (3.5 percent) reduction in OPEC crude oil output to 32.5 million barrels per day, effective in January 2017. The result was a small price increase and some price stability.

But the respite may be temporary, because the price increase is likely to stimulate other oil production that can come on line quickly. A recent sharp decline in prices because of higher than expected oil inventories in the United States underlines the temporary nature of the respite the OPEC agreement provides.

Continue reading here.

The IMF’s forthcoming World Economic Outlook will have a chapter on what drives the decline in the labor share of income in many countries around the world. Previewing the chapter (see figure above), IMF Managing Director Lagarde wrote that “trade and technological innovation have allowed countries to grow the economic pie and improve living standards, while lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Yet more could be done to mitigate the unwelcome side-effects seen in some places—including a rise in income inequality, job losses in shrinking sectors, and protracted economic and social problems across structurally weaker regions.”

For earlier work on inequality and the decline in labor share of income, see Krugman’s post for a summary, this F&D article for a longer description or this working paper for the gory details.