Economists gone wild

The American Economic Association recently held its annual meetings in Atlanta. WSJ reports that this was probably bad news for Atlantans whose livelihood depends on the convention trade because --- economists tend to be cheapskates. My favorite anecdote in the article was the one about Milton Friedman returning reporters calls collect. My own claim to fame: I continue to cut my own grass. But is it because I am a cheapskate, or because I have so few earnings opportunities on the weekend?

On a more serious front, there was much talk about the current economic crisis. Ben Bernanke's speech got the most attention, as one would expect. Bernanke warned that the Fed may very well act to pop any future bubbles. Last week WSJ ran another article that gave some interesting perspectives on how to deal with the financial crisis, growing federal debt and our old friends Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Money quote from Stanford economist Robert Hall:

If the banks really feel that they are insured, then we have a dangerous situation. The incentives are to take a very risky position. They get to pocket it if they win and it's the federal government's problem if they lose.