Search Results
Working Paper
Banking and finance in Argentina in the period 1900-35
From 1900 to 1935, Argentina evolved from an economy highly dependent on external, primarily British, finance to one more nearly self-sufficient. We examine the failure of domestic finance to adequately fill the void left by the decline of London and the breakdown of the world financial system in the interwar period, when neither the Buenos Aires Bolsa nor the private domestic banks developed rapidly enough to fully replace British investors as efficient channels for financing private investment. One consequence is that Argentine investable funds were increasingly concentrated in a single ...
Working Paper
Banking and finance in Argentina in the period 1900–35
From 1900 to 1935, Argentina evolved from an economy highly dependent on external, primarily British, finance to one more nearly self-sufficient. We examine the failure of domestic finance to adequately fill the void left by the decline of London and the breakdown of the world financial system in the interwar period, when neither the Buenos Aires Bolsa nor the private domestic banks developed rapidly enough to fully replace British investors as efficient channels for financing private investment. One consequence is that Argentine investable funds were increasingly concentrated in a single ...
Working Paper
Branch banking and the geography of bank pricing
Journal Article
Gimme shelter! rents have risen, not fallen, since World War II
Two recent studies have concluded that for roughly four decades the measure of inflation for rents in the U.S. consumer price index was substantially underestimated. Why should this mismeasurement be of concern? In ?Gimme Shelter! Rents Have Risen, Not Fallen, Since World War II,? Len Nakamura explains that rents are important in measuring the price of housing services for homeowners as well as renters. They are also the main standard against which market participants and others weigh the reasonableness of house prices. In addition, such mismeasurement affected the estimated rate of overall ...
Journal Article
Intangibles: what put the new in the new economy?
Generating new products requires corporations to spend very large sums of money. These expenditures often lead to the development of intangible assets, such as patents and copyrights, that can add considerably to a company's coffers and stock market value. However, in general, our accounting conventions do not recognize these expenditures as investments--a holdover from the days when these types of investments were a negligible portion of total investment. Leonard Nakamura argues that these conventions cause profits and savings to be understated and that correcting them makes U.S. economic ...
Journal Article
The mismeasured personal saving rate is still useful: using real-time data to improve forecasting
People make decisions based on information. Often, with hindsight, they could have made better choices. Economics faces a similar problem: Economic data, when first released, are often inaccurate and may subsequently be revised. In "The Mismeasured Personal Saving Rate Is Still Useful: Using Real-Time Data to Improve Forecasting," Leonard Nakamura uses the U.S. personal saving rate - a statistic that has often been initially low, then substantially revised upward - to discuss how modern economic statistical techniques can improve forecasting.
Journal Article
Let a hundred flowers bloom! Decentralization and innovation
Which is more likely to encourage creativity and innovation: a centralized or a decentralized system of support? That is, should large organizations and recognized experts determine who gets funding for their ideas? Or should small businesses, patrons, and foundations provide the primary support for innovation? In " Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom! Decentralization and Innovation," Nakamura looks at the case for both sides using economic analysis, empirical studies, and anecdotal evidence
Journal Article
Underestimating advertising: innovation and unpriced entertainment
Leonard Nakamura states that despite consumers? lack of respect for advertising, it nonetheless plays a significant role in the economy. For one thing, it helps consumers find out about new products, and new products have been rising in economic importance. It also plays a role in subsidizing broadcast entertainment and news programs. Ultimately, Nakamura shows that although advertising contributes to consumer welfare, its contribution is missing from our measures of output.
Journal Article
The retail revolution and food-price mismeasurement
If a product sells for $3 this week at the local supermarket and $2 next week, what is the "real" price? What if that same product has a different price at a different store? Thanks to scanner technology, food prices differ a lot these days because they can be changed quickly and easily. How do our official statistics take these price movements into account? Not too well, according to Leonard Nakamura. In this article, he describes the retail revolution of recent years and how it has led to mismeasurement of food prices
Journal Article
Measuring inflation in a high-tech age