Slavery and the liquidity trap

Posted on 26 May 2011

What is the link between liquidity trap and slavery – well, ‘anti-slavery’ to be precise? (Slavery only has a 68% correlation.)

What we are looking at here is a chart from the latest toy from Google analytics – here. It’s a tool that looks at the correlation in the incidence of search terms – in this case the terms ‘liquidity trap’ and ‘anti-slavery’.

Without meaning to be flippant, what is going on with the cyclicality in the use of these terms? What does it say about the human condition that every April/May and December, we look into the abyss that is the google search bar and ask “Why are we here?”

Maybe it’s a primal urge that pushes us to question the good and bad at the turn of the seasons. Consider the correlation between ‘moral hazard’ and ‘federal reserve’.

And by way of cross-check, just so you know that it’s not some kind of sleight of hand following is the correlation between ‘residential construction’ and “christian”.