From Barbara Kiviat of Time magazine via Matt Yglesias:

Here's a look at some different time periods the number of days the S&P 500 has moved up or down more than 5% during the trading day: 1950-2000: 27 days 2000-2006: 7 days Jan. 1-Sept. 30, 2008: 20 days Since Oct. 1, 2008: 22 days

This data suggests a follow-up:

• Is the real economy moving that much faster just this past year? or
• Are financial markets responding to new data that much faster? or
• Are the financial markets untethered from the real economy?

I don't know that anyone knows the real answer yet.

Tags: Barbara Kiviat, Matt Yglesias, S&P 500, Time

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 and is filed under Economics, Financial Crisis, The Opinionsphere. Comments are closed; the conversation is kept as it was.