Where have all the posts gone?

Anyone who has been checking this blog for the last while may have noticed the drop-off in blog entries in recent months. My experiment with blogging is coming to an end, at least for now. As a posted back when I began the blog on March 8 2007, "The purpose of this blog is primarily to meet the needs of my students." I believe the blog has served this purpose very well. I've answered questions, written brief commentaries on economic events, and linked to news items that are relevent to my Macroeconomics students.

But for the next year I won't have any students! I'll be on leave from HKU, and will taking up a position at the Bank for International Settlements.

Thanks to those who have read the entries, emailed questions, and posted comments. I'll leave the site up, but for now, HongKongMacro will just have to languish in cyberspace....

Candy Money.....

What happens when an economy runs out of fiat money? Just such an outcome has occured in Argentina. With coins in short supply, stores have taken to using candy in place of small change. If candy can in turn be used to make small payments in other stores, then candy has become a form of commodity money. But if it cannot be used as payment, then the only beneficiaries of this practice will be the dentists! See this Freakonomics link for more.