marginalrevolution — 1. Is Bernanke right about the great stagnation? 2. Stanislaw Lem’s major non-fiction work is now in English, Amazon link is here. I have ordered it of course. 3. Find your sheep more easily. 4. More on the guy who bridged the prime gap, and more here, and here. 5. Why do rational people...
freakonomics — For years, we’ve been giving away free autographed bookplates that readers can stick in their copies of our books. (We’ve taken a break from this practice recently but will resume when we publish our next book.) I would estimate that we’ve mailed out between 20,000 and 30,000 bookplates — all...
econlog.econlib — With the end of the semester and the coming demise of Google Reader, I'm going to take an inventory of my already-thin list of RSS feeds and add and subtract as I deem necessary. Since crowdsourcing is the hip, "in" thing that all the cool kids are doing, I put...
marginalrevolution — You may perhaps have heard of the intriguing mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki who has produced an alleged proof of an important theorem that is so difficult and involves the creation of so much original mathematics and notation that no one is sure whether the proof is valid. Here is one description: On...
stumblingandmumbling.typepad — Does pre-tax inequality matter? I ask because of a dispute between Aditya and Tim. Aditya says that inequality is back at 1920s levels - which is true if we consider the share of the richest 1% - to which Tim replies that the relevant metric is inequality after taxes and...
econlog.econlib — A while back on Twitter, I asked:Question for people who think my views on immigration are "crazy": Would the same views remain "crazy" if I were Haitian?Brad Trun, blogger at Libertarian Realist, wrote a direct and forthright reply. Some will condemn him as racist, and be horrified that Brad identifies...
freakonomics — In our podcast “100 Ways to Fight Obesity,” Steve Levitt and David Laibson discuss the possibility of using tapeworms to fight weight gain. (Seriously.) That prompted a reader named Scott Genevish to send us a real-seeming (?) old advertisement for “Sanitized Tapeworms, Jar Packed” (below). It was accompanied by a...
marginalrevolution — Daniel Klein of George Mason University has conducted one of the broadest studies with the Google search engine…On the subject of individualization, he found that the word “preferences” was barely used until about 1930, but usage has surged since. On the general subject of demoralization, he finds a long decline...
marginalrevolution — In response to this post, Paul Krugman writes: Suppose that I could wave a magic wand (or play a few notes on a a Magic Flute) and suddenly increase all German wages by 20 percent. What do you think would happen to the value of the euro against the dollar and...
marginalrevolution — From Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews: Employers are increasingly recognizing they may be able to avoid certain penalties under the federal health law by offering very limited plans that can lack key benefits such as hospital coverage. Benefits advisers and insurance brokers—bucking a commonly held expectation that the law would broadly...
marginalrevolution — Fashion models are almost twice as likely to get their visas as computer programmers, by one rough measure. Here is more, and for the pointer I thank Andrew Rowe.
freakonomics — (Photo: epugachev) While it is true that human waste can indeed be recycled — as a medical “transpoosion,” as auto fuel, as heat for your home — that is not what’s happening in Portland, Oregon. People are indeed placing human waste in Portland’s recycling bins — in the form of baby...
marginalrevolution — Mr. Tyler’s entire home was only 78 square feet. And while his “Midtown mansion,” as he called it, was a far cry from the lavish town homes and shimmering penthouses that have spawned a thousand lustful television shows, a video tour posted on YouTube of Mr. Tyler’s little room has...
freakonomics — Staying at the Sheraton Boston, the hotel room has an option: “Reward yourself with a $5 voucher at participating food … outlets for each night you decline housekeeping services.” My consumer surplus actually exceeds the $5: I would pay a little bit extra not to have the cleaning people...
freakonomics — We recently received an e-mail from one Glenn Harris in response to our “How to Think About Guns” podcast. He is right — we should do a podcast episode or book chapter on hoarding. It is certainly a great topic, especially in that economists see hoarding (and price gouging) very...
freakonomics — (Photo: Diana Robinson) I made a mess out of this year’s Kentucky Derby. The worst part is that a bunch of friends placed bets using my picks, collectively losing a large stack of money. After the Kentucky Derby, I blogged about the misery, noting what a strange race the Derby was: The race is...
marginalrevolution — As reported by the excellent Carola Binder: Personally, what are the two most important issues you are facing at the moment? This question was only asked in May 2012. For the EU as a whole, by far the most common response was rising prices/inflation. In fact, 45% of people in 2012 said...
marginalrevolution — By now it is well known that hanging out with healthy peers predicts (causes?) good health, and unhealthy peers predict (cause?) bad health, for instance as it applies to weight and diet. So what might that mean? But perhaps medical care should indeed be given preferentially to those who, in receiving...
marginalrevolution — 1. Ryan Avent on liquidity leaks, Paul Krugman also. 2. Some positive results on microcredit. 3. Some not very surprising claims about Joseph Beuys. I am still waiting for a good book about the massive influence of Rudolf Steiner. 4. Where is the euro breaking point? 5. Is Greece turning the corner? 6. “Tsundoku”, and...
econlog.econlib — Suppose a city's population exogenously rises. You might think that price theory clearly implies that demand for real estate will rise. But that's not so. In theory, higher population could generate a congestion externality so awful that demand for real estate actually falls. If you're having trouble picturing this, imagine...
econlog.econlib — In the cost/benefit analysis course i teach, one of the actual cost/benefit analyses we work our way through--and one that I present as a reasonably good CBA--is a study done by two St. Louis Federal Reserve economists on adding another runway at St. Louis's airport. The authors are Jeffrey...
freakonomics — If you care even a little bit about the late lamented TV show Arrested Development (I do), then you probably know that Netflix has produced a new season of the show, due for release on May 26. In case you didn’t know, however, some clever folks at Netflix (or its...
econlog.econlib — Ronald Coase famously advised economists to "look out the window" every so often. It's advice I (try to) take to heart. Here's an example. On Monday afternoon, I was standing behind our building waiting for a few people and "enjoying" the smell of the dumpsters behind the cafeteria next door....
econlog.econlib — Arthur Breitman and I have hammered out the following inflation bet:If the 12 month change of the CPI-U as reported by the BLS is greater than 5% for any sliding window between today and December 2015 in monthly increments, I pay Arthur $100. Otherwise, he pays me $3.
