The Capital Spectator has been labeled as one of several “top economics bloggers by scholarly impact” in a paper–“Blogometrics”–published in the Winter 2010 issue of the Eastern Economic Journal. See Table 1 (p. 4) and Table 2 (p. 6) of the PDF in the link. Actually, we’re tied with some other sites in the rankings. But, hey, now it’s only a matter of time until we’re offered a reality show, right? Meantime, here’s the paper’s abstract:
This study gathers information on a wide array of economics bloggers and blogs in order to develop a ranking of economics bloggers that is based on citations to their academic research. This ranking is used in an iterative process that next presents a ranking of economics blogs that is based on the ranking of economics bloggers, and finally a ranking of economics departments that is based on the ranking of economics blogs. The ranking of blogs included in this study is positively correlated with an external ranking based on their productivity (popularity), whereas the department ranking presented here comports quite well with department rankings in Coupe´ (2003) and Roessler (2004) that are developed with more traditional measures, such as the impact of the scholarship of an economics department’s faculty.
And in case you’re wondering, the top-ranked economics blog is Gary Becker and Richard Posner’s site, a.k.a. The Becker-Posner Blog, according to the paper. We’re nowhere near the ranking of this influential site, of course. In fact, we’re at or near the bottom, depending on the details of the particular ranking. But simply showing up on the same list as a few of the big boys is something. Or as they say in Hollywood, just being nominated is an honor.

There’s nothing new under the sun in the money game, but there’s always a fresh perspective. Sometimes that makes all the difference. Sometimes that’s all there is.
In the quest to offer something productive, let’s imagine that reviewing the whys and wherefores of risk premia can help sober us up about what’s necessary to keep the red ink at bay and maybe, just maybe, turn a profit with a multi-asset class portfolio.
For those who are interested in the details, including a broad review of the academic literature and the empirical record, you’re in luck. Your intrepid editor has a book coming out next month from Bloomberg Press—Dynamic Asset Allocation: Modern Portfolio Theory Updated for the Smart Investor. We also analyze the markets, portfolio strategy, and otherwise crunch the numbers on a monthly basis for subscribers to The Beta Investment Report. As for the aforementioned investment perspective, allow us to take you on a brief (very brief) tour.
As readers of these digital pages know, we begin with the market portfolio, broadly defined. A reasonable proxy for most investors can be modeled on a global mix of stocks, bonds, REITs and commodities, weighted by their respective market values. In fact, we do just that by calculating our Global Market Index, the benchmark for The Beta Investment Report.

Continue reading →