Will eliminating “financing constraints” create 850,000 jobs? Perhaps, or so a new study advises. “According to our estimates, eliminating financial constraints of small firms could add up to 850,000 jobs to the economy,” asserts a recent paper from the Boston Fed: “Financing Constraints and Unemployment: Evidence from the Great Recession.” This much is clear: the longer the labor market struggles to mint new jobs on a net basis, the stronger the incentive to try almost anything to boost employment creation. Surely there are no silver bullets, but maybe there’s an array of bronze buckshots that add up to something more than a rounding error. Maybe. If so, that suggests that policy makers look for possible solutions in the usual and not-so-usual places. As such, the new Boston Fed research is food for thought.

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American Public Media’s “Marketplace” radio show called today to discuss my article on gold in the November issue of The Atlantic. I’m told that my spot airs today, this evening, although the exact time varies based on the local station affiliate. In the New York City region, for instance, the show runs from 6:30-7:00pm tonight on WNYC (FM 93.9/AM 820). When and where will the show air in your neck of the woods? As terrestrial radio folk have advised from time immemorial: Please check your local listings.
UPDATE: The full 30-minute show is archived as a podcast and is transcribed as well. If you’re listening, my spot begins at roughly 19 minutes in.

Today’s update on September consumer price inflation suggests that the worries about deflation in recent months weren’t misguided. Although consumer prices overall are still rising, the increase is slight. More worrisome is the trend. The annual pace of consumer inflation continues to fade. It’s not a rapid decline, although it’s fairly persistent. Given the macroeconomic backdrop these days (lots of debt and sluggish growth hobbling the economy and labor market), the disinflation trend can’t be dismissed. Until and unless it’s stopped, we know how this movie ends, and it’s not going to be pretty. Fortunately, the central bank still has the power to alter the outcome, but the clock is ticking.

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►Emerging-Market Currencies Soar
David Wessel/Wall Street Journal
Currency markets, seeing few signs global financial officials made progress in defusing tensions in last weekend’s talks in Washington, Thursday resumed their seemingly relentless determination to push down the U.S. dollar, particularly against currencies of emerging markets.
►Dollar Weakens Near 15-Year Low Against Yen Before Bernanke Policy Speech
Keith Jenkins and Candice Zachariahs/Bloomberg
The dollar traded near its weakest level in 15 years against the yen before a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke that may indicate whether the central bank will ease monetary policy further…Bernanke will speak later today at the Boston Fed conference.

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