Questions that are rarely asked
Was September 2008 the month of greatest increase in United States Wealth in History?
Doesn’t the long term economic impact of 5-10 trillion dollars of offshore oil overwhelm the trillion dollars from the bailout?
That’s from Andrew, a loyal MR reader. He sends along this link. I have not myself done any calculations of the fiscal benefits from such oil (which are distinct from the price effect, which is likely small). Does anyone know a number?
At first I thought he was going to mention the recent decline in the price of oil, which on average you can expect to be permanent. The real lesson, I would say, is how much coordination (or lack thereof) matters and how badly representative agent models perform in explaining the most important economic changes.