John Barrdear's Avatar

John Barrdear

@johnbarrdear

I'm an economist. I work at the Bank of England, where I think about monetary policy and forecasting. All opinions, especially stupid ones, are my own.

171
Followers
313
Following
56
Posts
05.07.2023
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by John Barrdear @johnbarrdear

We can argue about what name to give it, and who might or might not be in it, but I think that Nate has identified a clear group here:

1) Small tent-ism.

2) Appeals to authority through credentialism.

3) A tendency to catastrophising.

06.09.2025 13:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Is that the bullet point?

24.05.2025 16:55 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

But the 2nd paper I linked is a little different. It supposes (as a primitive) that the policymaker tries to avoid bond market volatility. Here's a PDF:

scholar.harvard.edu/files/stein/...

12.05.2025 19:59 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

That is Woodford's suggestion, yes.

12.05.2025 19:58 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
The Fed, the Bond Market, and Gradualism in Monetary Policy on JSTOR JEREMY C. STEIN, ADI SUNDERAM, The Fed, the Bond Market, and Gradualism in Monetary Policy, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 73, No. 3 (June 2018), pp. 1015-1060

This is another fun one on the same question (albeit with a different answer!): www.jstor.org/stable/26654...

12.05.2025 19:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Optimal Interest-Rate Smoothing on JSTOR Michael Woodford, Optimal Interest-Rate Smoothing, The Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 70, No. 4 (Oct., 2003), pp. 861-886

Hey @t0nyyates.bsky.social, this is the paper I was referring to earlier today: www.jstor.org/stable/3648627

12.05.2025 19:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

A fantastic thread and incredibly useful set of estimates.

10.04.2025 15:27 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Yeah, but it's being distributed by a bloody Australian!

10.04.2025 15:24 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

"I don't know anyone who is confident of their forecast" -- Powell

19.03.2025 19:11 πŸ‘ 215 πŸ” 25 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 5
Preview
British Library's huge Β£1.1 billion extension goes ahead The scheme will create new facilities for the library and provide 600,000 sq ft of new commercial space for life sciences occupiers

A Β£1.1 billion investment in the British Library is going ahead. Big expansion in an area of London that is rapidly becoming a cultural and learning centre.

19.03.2025 14:17 πŸ‘ 175 πŸ” 38 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 10
Post image

Having your currency best charted with a log-scale is just such an awful place to be.

19.03.2025 09:52 πŸ‘ 62 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 3
Post image

The @economist.com on Europe’s task to preserve what’s left of the West. Remarkably strong words.

15.03.2025 08:27 πŸ‘ 519 πŸ” 180 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 17

A great thread on why US social security numbers are not, and cannot act as, unique identifiers.

12.02.2025 08:41 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Imagine going back to early 2013, less than a month into Obama’s second term, to tell people that a perfectly valid headline, 12 years hence, would be β€œPresident Trump launches trade war against Canada. Crypto falls across the board.”

03.02.2025 09:11 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Leopard: I will eat your face

Bank analysts: Our baseline assumes no face-eating

Leopard: Chomp chomp chomp

01.02.2025 17:12 πŸ‘ 10610 πŸ” 2868 πŸ’¬ 201 πŸ“Œ 104

I’m not sure I understand you here. Even the simplest Cobb-Douglas production function has K in it along with A and L, and the rate of investment in the UK has been sluggish (at best) for many years now.

30.01.2025 09:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
x.com

TIL that there is a <takes a deep breath> trans, Guido Fawkes mask-wearing, vegan, effective altruist, rationalist splinter group with a particular interest in AI Risk researchers that has descended into a weird murder cult across America.

x.com/aella_girl/s...

29.01.2025 20:49 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

If I understand things correctly, with both the PM and CX both throwing their weight behind a third runway for Heathrow, the "ambitious" goal is for planning permission to be granted "by the end of this parliament" (i.e. in around four years). Is that right?

29.01.2025 14:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

From a welfare perspective, Deepseek is amazing. It delivers a productivity boost over existing LLMs and being OSS it immediately gets universal dissemination. That is positive for GDP, even if it is negative for the ability of Nvidia or commercial operators of LLMs to cream off some economic rent.

28.01.2025 08:54 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I lean towards Andy’s views. I think that philosophising about whether Trump should be taken literally, seriously, neither or both is largely pointless. He should be taken at his word when talking about policy, but it should also be acknowledged that he’s open to change: everything is negotiable.

22.01.2025 13:44 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I particularly like the idea of local councils getting to retain any increase in business rates collected from large new investments in their areas to help align incentives.

22.01.2025 13:35 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Growth is a policy choice So here are some pro-growth policies to choose from

This, from two Sams (@samdumitriu.bsky.social and @sambowman.co), is excellent: www.sambowman.co/p/growth-is-...

22.01.2025 13:33 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
β€˜Unprecedented’ rise in abortion prosecutions prompts call for law change from medical leaders Statement from 30 groups including BMA and royal colleges says current law is causing β€œtrauma and cruelty”

Wait, *what*?

β€œIt is a criminal offence [under the Offences against the Person Act, introduced in 1861] to have an abortion after 24 weeks or without approval from two doctors”

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

12.01.2025 12:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Wait. What?

07.01.2025 09:17 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
WhatsApp wins legal victory against NSO Group in Pegasus hacking case Judge finds no merit in arguments made by Israeli spyware manufacturer

WhatsApp wins legal victory against NSO Group in Pegasus hacking case on.ft.com/49PYMQs

Common sense prevails.

21.12.2024 11:34 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ”₯

19.12.2024 22:35 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

While I’m talking about information and its flow being the bedrock of state capacity, the ONS is criminally underfunded and physically placed in entirely the wrong location.

14.12.2024 09:13 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

For he love of all that is holy, can @bsky.app *please* update its iOS app to rotate images if I rotate my phone?

13.12.2024 10:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

As with previous spikes in activity on @bsky.app, that spike is now running off pretty steeply.

13.12.2024 00:06 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You laugh, but the inability to combine records across, or even within, major public services is a significant drag on the government’s ability to actually deliver those services.

12.12.2024 08:25 πŸ‘ 24 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1