William White of the Dallas Fed, in this piece, "Ultra Easy Monetary Policy and the Law of Unintended Consequences," elaborates on the issue of the natural rate of interest by noting that central banks create a financial rate of interest that is different from the natural rate of interest. This is a 35-page paper (excluding footnotes) for those with a more philosophical bent, but I suggest most of you glance through at least the first few pages and read the conclusions. And my inbox looks like people may be thinking about coming back from vacation. Noticeably less writing (at least that I felt was worth posting) this August than usual.