korrents
John H. Cochrane

John H. Cochrane

@john-cochrane · 32 positions · On ppll ↗

Economist at the Hoover Institution, previously at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, and the author of the fiscal theory of the price level. Writes at The Grumpy Economist.

John H. Cochrane did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

5 of John H. Cochrane's claims fit 3 mental models. Most often: Second-order thinking, Bottlenecks, Incentives.

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Second-order thinking

Ask "and then what?": follow a decision past its first effect to the ones that come after.

Used by 88 others

Cutting off trade with tariffs would force a huge interest-rate spike and probably a debt crisis, because the budget deficit would have to be financed at home.

  1. John H. Cochrane Economist at the Hoover Institution But the spike in interest rates require to do this would be huge. And the trade shock will cause a sharp recession, or worse, putting even more stress on the budget. A debt crisis is likely along the way as the US finds it impossible to roll over debt. Tariffs, saving, and investmentgrumpy-economist.com · 14 Apr 2025All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsBut the spike in interest rates require to do this would be huge. And the trade shock will cause a sharp recession, or worse, putting even more stress on the budget. A debt crisis is likely along the way as the US finds it impossible to roll over debt.

    ↗Tariffs, saving, and investmentgrumpy-economist.com

    14 Apr 2025

Handing out cheques during Covid and accepting the inflation was less damaging than price controls and rationing would have been.

  1. John H. Cochrane Economist at the Hoover Institution We got inflation, but we did not get the devastation that would have been caused by price controls and rationing. Praise for Price-Gouginggrumpy-economist.com · 20 Aug 2024All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsWe got inflation, but we did not get the devastation that would have been caused by price controls and rationing.

    ↗Praise for Price-Gouginggrumpy-economist.com

    20 Aug 2024

Bottlenecks

A system moves only as fast as its narrowest point; speed up anything else and nothing changes.

Used by 88 others

The binding constraint on building anything in America is permitting and litigation, not money.

  1. John H. Cochrane Economist at the Hoover Institution Endless lawsuits, cost-exploding contracting requirements, decades to get permits, and more bedevil any attempt to invest here. Tariffs, saving, and investmentgrumpy-economist.com · 14 Apr 2025All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsEndless lawsuits, cost-exploding contracting requirements, decades to get permits, and more bedevil any attempt to invest here.

    ↗Tariffs, saving, and investmentgrumpy-economist.com

    14 Apr 2025

Incentives

Look at what people are rewarded for; it explains more behaviour than what they say, your own included.

Used by 86 others

Banks oppose interest-paying stablecoins to avoid competition on checking account interest rates.

  1. John H. Cochrane Economist at the Hoover Institution Banks don’t want competition, which would force them to pay interest on checking deposits. Plain and simple. Political economy in financial regulationgrumpy-economist.com · 23 Sept 2026
    Their wordsBanks don’t want competition, which would force them to pay interest on checking deposits. Plain and simple.

    ↗Political economy in financial regulationgrumpy-economist.com

    23 Sept 2026