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Monday, April 26, 2010

Some Links, Should Travellers to AZ take their Passports?

Menzie Chinn asks if he should (here; news story on the law here; resolution summary here). If you solve the subsequent subgame, I'm sure someone'll get the idea that only stoping people with different skin colors or accents is a violation of civil rights, and that'll mean I should, too.
High-skilled immigrants make the economy go (here); maybe not for long (here).
Governments move to regulate remittances (here); what central bankers think of it (step one: keep better data here); mobile remittances might help keep better data (here).
How do temporary shocks affect modern economies? (Not much - here)
China's real estate bubble? (Economist, here; LA Times, here; Business Week, here) Some excerpts:

Taxi drivers boast of owning multiple flats for investment. (LA Times)

and

"My maid just asked for leave... She's rushing home to buy property. I
suggested she borrow 70% so she could cap the loss." (Business Week)

and
It's somewhat reassuring that buyers are plunking down sizeable downpayments. (Economist)

On #3, two comments: (1) ... for now; and (2) is it? If folks are leveraging 70% on speculation about the value of an asset that has had a historical real appreciation close to zero how much does it matter that they own a meager 30%? Again, you buy a house for the dividends of its use value. Investment value is speculation. and eventually a bubble.

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