http://topicfire.com/Economy 2013-05-20T05:11:18+00:00 text/html 2013-05-19T04:30:05+00:00 http://econlog.econlib.org/ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/congestion_exte_1.html <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/congestion_exte_1.html"><img src="http://econlog.econlib.org/res/img/b10_author_caplan.jpg" /></a><br />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... text/html 2013-05-19T01:17:57+00:00 http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/ http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2013/05/on-stock-investing.html <a href="http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2013/05/on-stock-investing.html"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UyrHm3Hn6z4/UZfuBQkje7I/AAAAAAAABbo/Df9B1KdCv2I/s200/new+york+times+graphic+11.jpg" /></a><br />Click here to read my column in Sunday's NY Times. text/html 2013-05-18T13:15:40+00:00 http://econlog.econlib.org/ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/congestion_exte.html <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/congestion_exte.html"><img src="http://econlog.econlib.org/res/img/b10_author_henderson.jpg" /></a><br />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... text/html 2013-05-17T18:24:55+00:00 http://www.freakonomics.com/ http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/17/the-bluths-are-everywhere/ <a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/17/the-bluths-are-everywhere/"><img src="http://www.freakonomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Screen-Shot-2013-05-16-at-12.07.41-PM.png" /></a><br />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&#8217;t know, however, some clever folks at Netflix (or its... text/html 2013-05-17T17:01:06+00:00 http://econlog.econlib.org/ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/look_out_the_wi.html <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/look_out_the_wi.html"><img src="http://econlog.econlib.org/res/img/artcarden.jpg" /></a><br />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.... text/html 2013-05-17T16:32:41+00:00 http://econlog.econlib.org/ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/another_inflati.html <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/another_inflati.html"><img src="http://econlog.econlib.org/res/img/b10_author_caplan.jpg" /></a><br />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. text/html 2013-05-17T15:21:31+00:00 http://www.freakonomics.com/ http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/17/how-to-solve-the-reply-all-problem/ <a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/17/how-to-solve-the-reply-all-problem/"><img src="http://www.freakonomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/email.jpg" /></a><br />(Photo: Jon Gosier) E-mail has been around long enough for most of us to fall in love and hate and love with it at least a few times. Problems arise and are quashed, or dealt with. Innovations come along; customs evolve. But one grisly bad habit won&#8217;t go away: the &#8220;reply-all&#8221;... text/html 2013-05-17T15:20:50+00:00 http://www.freakonomics.com/ http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/17/just-how-useless-is-the-asset-management-industry/ An interesting article on the Harvard Business Review blog, by Justin Fox, on a topic that most investors already have a strong feeling (or should I say &#8220;bias&#8221;?) about. It may not, therefore, change anyone&#8217;s mind &#8212; but the fascinating lead shows the active-management roots of passive-management legend Jack Bogle: Writing... text/html 2013-05-17T13:16:33+00:00 http://econlog.econlib.org/ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/linda_gorman_on.html <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/linda_gorman_on.html"><img src="http://econlog.econlib.org/res/img/b10_author_henderson.jpg" /></a><br />Linda Gorman, my former Naval Postgraduate School colleague and author of three excellent articles in The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (here, here, and here), has written a post laying out some weird consequences of the ObamaCare law. I would be tempted to call them "Rube Goldberg" consequences but the... text/html 2013-05-17T07:18:51+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/does-the-eurozone-have-a-monetary-policy-transmission-mechanism-or-rather-a-liquidity-leak.html What would happen if the ECB immediately and directly ran a helicopter drop of money to the periphery?  I don&#8217;t find that an easy question to answer.  Here is one recent report: But the indicator [interest rate spreads] has since risen again and reached a record of 3.7 percentage points in... text/html 2013-05-16T21:42:59+00:00 http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/ http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2013/05/adam-smith-on-immigration.html UKIP claims that its tax policies are derived from Adam Smith. But what would the great man make of its anti-immigration policies? I suspect the answer is: not much. Now, immigration was not much of an issue in Smith's time so he said little about it directly. But he did point... text/html 2013-05-16T21:15:16+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/further-results-on-hypergamy.html This paper, by Marianne Bertrand, Jessica Pan, and Emir Kamenica, was pointed out by Matt Yglesias on Twitter, the abstract is this: We examine causes and consequences of relative income within households. We establish that gender identity – in particular, an aversion to the wife earning more than the husband &#8211; impacts... text/html 2013-05-16T20:16:37+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/assorted-links-794.html 1. Actual weekly number of hours worked in the UK, the data series.  Not your grandfather&#8217;s AD problem. 2. Ross Douthat on conservatives and health care costs. 3. Publisher threatens blogger with $1 billion lawsuit, in India too. 4. Markets in everything, Bea Arthur edition. 5. Europe&#8217;s problem is the banks. 6. The new smart... text/html 2013-05-16T18:20:48+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/u-s-clothing-chains-do-not-support-pact-on-bangladesh-reforms.html From Brad Plumer: Nearly all U.S. clothing chains, citing the fear of litigation, declined to sign an international pact ahead of a Wednesday deadline, potentially weakening what had been hailed as the best hope for bringing about major reforms in low-wage factories in Bangladesh. Companies including Wal-Mart, Gap, Target and J.C. Penney... text/html 2013-05-16T17:39:59+00:00 http://www.freakonomics.com/ http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/16/aaron-swartz-versus-the-bankers/ <a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/16/aaron-swartz-versus-the-bankers/"><img src="http://www.freakonomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/8382847822_2e1c8ef92a-300x300.jpg" /></a><br />(Illustration: DonkeyHotey) A New Yorker article on Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide while under federal investigation for bulk downloading academic articles, leaves little to disagree with. But it missed a comparison that has troubled me: between Swartz and the bankers who tanked the world economy. I have found myself unable to write about this... text/html 2013-05-16T16:19:16+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/claims-about-pastries.html Which raises a delicate question: Having already eclipsed Paris in Michelin stars, could Tokyo chefs one day eclipse the French at their own cuisine? I put the question to pastry chef Sugino, who trained in France and is one of only four Japanese members of the prestigious Relais Desserts, an association of... text/html 2013-05-16T14:15:15+00:00 http://econlog.econlib.org/ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/how_to_spend_a.html <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/how_to_spend_a.html"><img src="http://econlog.econlib.org/res/img/b10_author_caplan.jpg" /></a><br />My Ph.D. students' responses to the following question on their final exam disappointed me:In the modern U.S., what is the most efficient way for the federal government to spend an extra billion dollars?  What is the maximally utilitarian way for the federal government to spend this sum?  (In both cases, assume that... text/html 2013-05-16T12:46:25+00:00 http://econlog.econlib.org/ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/kenneth_elzinga.html <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/kenneth_elzinga.html"><img src="http://econlog.econlib.org/res/img/b10_author_henderson.jpg" /></a><br />The best talk I attended at the annual meetings of the Association for Private Enterprise Education (APEE) was a luncheon speech given by Kenneth Elzinga of the University of Virginia. I have know Ken since the early 2000s when we both were on the faculty of the George Mason... text/html 2013-05-16T11:21:11+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/have-we-seen-self-defeating-austerity-in-the-united-states.html Everyone has been talking about the revised CBO deficit forecast, which suggests the short-term U.S. fiscal picture is more favorable than had been realized.  It can be said that in the short- to medium-term, the deficit is no longer an issue (in my view that was the case anyway, but... text/html 2013-05-16T09:18:25+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/matt-yglesias-appreciates-star-trek.html You will find his essay here, and I have many points of agreement with him, but I think he undervalues the first series.  Characters and script were excellent in about sixty percent  of the original episodes.  It is also noteworthy that the original characters have entered popular culture for an... text/html 2013-05-15T18:20:45+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/our-improving-short-term-budget-picture.html You will find summaries here from Annie Lowrey and also Ezra Klein.  I like Ross Douthat&#8217;s remarks: &#8230;almost nobody is willing to break out the champagne on these estimates. The Keynesians think our shrinking deficit is a sign of the White House’s foolish surrender to austerity at a time when the... text/html 2013-05-15T16:21:21+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/assorted-links-793.html 1. Peter Chang has opened a new restaurant in Fredericksburg. 2. “If only the government would apply the same level of thoroughness to their supervision of food and milk in China.” 3. What is the real IRS scandal? 4. Is the real estate market crashing in Canada? 5. Robin Hanson on robot economics. 6. Ashok... text/html 2013-05-15T15:40:36+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/the-future-is-here.html The Georgia Institute of Technology plans to offer a $7,000 online master’s degree to 10,000 new students over the next three years without hiring much more than a handful of new instructors. Georgia Tech will work with AT&T and Udacity, the 15-month-old Silicon Valley-based company, to offer a new online master’s... text/html 2013-05-15T15:40:28+00:00 http://marginalrevolution.com/ http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/whose-entire-body-of-work-is-worth-reading.html Ryan T. asks: I’d be curious to see Tyler’s “completist” list. In other words, authors whose entire body of work merits reading. If this does get a response, I’m most interested in seeing the list begin with literature. I&#8217;ll repeat my earlier mention of Geza Vermes.  And to make the exercise meaningful,... text/html 2013-05-15T15:31:37+00:00 http://econlog.econlib.org/ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/virtue_conformi.html <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/05/virtue_conformi.html"><img src="http://econlog.econlib.org/res/img/b10_author_caplan.jpg" /></a><br />Consider a world where 80% of people are Conformists, 10% of people are Righteous, and 10% are Reprobates.  The Conformists are epistemically and morally neutral, so they believe and support whatever is popular.   The Righteous are epistemically and morally virtuous, so they believe and support whatever is true and...