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Institutional Economics: Too Many Malthusians

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:51:00 -0500

Brendan O’Neill, on why Malthusians are always wrong.

Institutional Economics: HSBC to Retail Gold Bugs: Get Your Own Damn Vault, Ours is Full

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:35:00 -0500

Gold is all about capital gain (or loss, as the case may be). After storage and insurance costs, gold has a negative yield. These costs may be about to go up, with retail gold bugs being booted out of gold storage facilities to make way for institutional investors. From the [...]

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative: Milking consumers

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:26:28 -0500

It's hard to believe that I've managed to run a blog on the Canadian economy for more than four years without having a go at what is Canada's most fragrant example of bad economic policy. Happily, the Conference Board has just published a paper summarising the sorry state of [...]

HSH Associates Financial News Blog: 15 Million Taxpayers to Repay Tax Credit

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:17:25 -0500

Unfortunately, this is rather old news. In early May we had warned readers that those few extra bucks you were receiving in your paycheck each week, thanks to the president’s Making Work Pay tax credit, may need to be paid back come tax time.

“Uncle Sam will want your tax [...]

Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: Everyone Working for the Washington Post Should Hide Their Head in Shame

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:16:43 -0500

And the thing should be shut down immediately. Just saying.

Howard Gleckman on George "It's My Business to Lie as Much as Possible" Will:

TaxVox: the Tax Policy Center blog :: Off to the Big House: Penalizing Non-Buyers of Health Insurance:

“Democrats health bills depend on forcing [...]

Marginal Revolution: Russ Roberts on "How Little We Know"

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:44:00 -0500

The short essay on the financial crisis, and potential remedies, is here and it offers a Hayekian skepticism about many suggested solutions. Excerpt:

Attempts to repair the system from the top-down will fail. We must find ways to let bottom-up solutions emerge.

[...]

Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: Mark Halperin Should Be Fired by Time Magazine Today

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:41:13 -0500

That is all.

Jason Linkins: Mark Halperin's Mary Landrieu Photoshop: Pure Class:

[...]

The Big Picture: Tuesday Reads

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:15:49 -0500

Number of comments: 10

Fascinating stuff on the intertubes today:

• Fischer Speaking Means Bernanke Listening When Rates Fluctuate (Bloomberg)

• Are the Dollar Bears Too Bullish? (Barron’s)

• Commercial RE Values Off 43% From 2007 Peak (Globe ST)

• Amazon vs Wal-Mart Price War (NYT) see also Round-Up of Holiday Spending Surveys, [...]

Calculated Risk: Negative Equity Report for Q3

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500

Here is the Q3 negative equity report from First American CoreLogic mentioned last night. From the report: Negative equity, often referred to as “underwater” or “upside down,” means that borrowers owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth.

Data Highlights
Nearly 10.7 million, or 23 [...]

The Big Picture: 30 yr FNMA mortgage rate falls below 4%

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:51:03 -0500

Today’s rally in MBS has taken the 30 yr FNMA coupon to below 4% at 3.98%, for the first time since May 20th. Combining the treasury rally with continued purchases by the Federal Reserve (where Bullard wants to extend past the expected expiration in March) and likely end of yr [...]

Cafe Hayek: Climategate

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:40:53 -0500

Number of comments: 6

This eleven-minute-long interview with climate scientist Pat Michaels reveals just how scientific the global-warming ‘hawks’ are.

[...]

Organizations and Markets: The Igon Value of Football

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:34:43 -0500

| Dick Langlois | My last post implicitly lauds the science reporting of the New York Times. And I think they generally do a good job. But, still basking in the glow of UConn’s remarkable football win over Notre Dame on Saturday, I am reminded of a – presumably unintentionally – [...]

Cafe Hayek: Good Deflation

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:34:35 -0500

Number of comments: 4

George Selgin’s 1997 monograph (published by the IEA of London) Less Than Zero: The Case for a Falling Price Level in a Growing Economy is now available on-line. What great news!

With confusion about money, banking, and monetary policy running rampant these days, George’s clear and compelling argument for “the [...]

Heavy Lifting: In loco parentis ad infinitum?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:24:00 -0500

From this USA Today story:A university's requirement that overweight undergraduates take a fitness course to receive their degrees has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts.Officials at historically black Lincoln University said Friday that the school is simply concerned about high rates of obesity [...]

Angry Bear: Inflation and Expectations

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:10:00 -0500

Number of comments: 1
Ken Houghton follows up on his previous post.

One of the few honest statements that came out of the Reagan Administration was in late 1982, when the Volcker policies were working but the market was still spooked. "People expect that inflation will be higher than it will be."
[...]

The Capital Spectator: IN DEBT WE TRUST?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:23:32 -0500

Is it time to consider more radical strategies for repairing the U.S. economy? Perhaps, although as a recent essay from the Levy Economics Institute argues, it’s also clear that the old game of trying to reflate bubbles isn’t going to work this time.

[...]

Freakonomics: Physician, Disinfect Thyself

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:18:00 -0500

We spend a good bit of time in SuperFreakonomics writing about doctors' hand hygiene: specifically, how important good hand hygiene is in order to cut down on hospital-acquired infections and yet how historically it has proven difficult to enforce.

' [...]

Calculated Risk: FOMC Minutes: "Unemployment expected to remain elevated for some time"

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0500

The FOMC now sees economic risks balanced, as opposed to tilted towards the downside (I think this is too optimistic). And they also expect unemployment to remain elevated for some time.

Here are the November FOMC minutes. Committee Policy Action: [M]ost members projected that over the next [...]

Division of Labour: The Gentle Cynic c. 1909

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:46:00 -0500

From the Nov. 21, 1909 NYT (I know, this is a couple of days old): Pot luck is too often potted luck. The only people who really seem to enjoy living close to nature are those who don't have to. If all the luxuries should be taxed, why not a' [...]

The Big Picture: Great 5 year note auction, they still love us

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:43:11 -0500

The record 5 yr $42b auction was excellent as the yield was 3-4 bps below the when issued and the bid to cover at 2.81 was the best since Sept ‘07 and well above the average seen this year of 2.28. Indirect bidders totaled a solid 60.9%, above the average [...]

Chronicle of the Conspiracy: ON THE KANJORSKI AMENDMENT

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:31:00 -0500

I'm quoted in Investors Business Daily on a proposed regulation that would allow government to break up any financial firm deemed "too big," as in "too big to fail." Before deciding a firm is engaged in risky activity, [the] Kanjorski [Amendment] would require regulators to consider factors such as' [...]

The Big Picture: State of the Economy (Update)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:30:35 -0500

Number of comments: 10

Nice interactive graphic from Russell Investments looking at the state of the economy. Russell uses 4 market and 4 economic data points:

click for interactive chart

[...]

Paul Krugman: A bizarre complacency

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:24:53 -0500

Number of comments: 15
Why is a terrible economic outlook considered acceptable? [...]

Paul Krugman: A familiar feeling

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:23:59 -0500

Number of comments: 15
Parallels between deficit fear-mongering and the runup to Iraq. [...]

Marginal Revolution: Assorted links

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:12:00 -0500

1. Audiobook version of David Hume's Treatise on Human Nature.

2. What some Iranians think of New Jersey.

3. Alan Lomax in Haiti.

4. James Wood tries to take down Paul Auster.

5. An unwanted kiss from a moral man.

6. What does the Miller-Moore amendment say?

[...]

Mises Economics Blog: On the Radio About Liberty, the Free Market, and the State

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:38:02 -0500

When I was in the Bahamas couple of weeks ago lecturing for the free-market, Nassau Institute, I appeared on one of the most popular and widely listened to radio talk shows in that country.

I spoke about the meaning and idea of individual liberty and the free society; [...]

Freakonomics: The Spiked-Drink Myth

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:34:51 -0500

Drinking alcohol puts people at high risk for all kinds of misfortunes. Exposure to date-rape drugs, however, doesn't seem to be one of them. In a study published in the British Journal of Criminology, more than half of the 200 university students surveyed said they knew someone whose drink had been' [...]

Businesspundit: The 5 Best Websites for Finding Black Friday Deals

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:30:53 -0500

Number of comments: 1

Image: Intomobile

Black Friday, the major shopping day after Thanksgiving, can give you amazing bargains.But, as any experienced shopper knows, a successful Black Friday requires preparation.

When it comes to preparing, the Internet is your friend. Several entrepreneurs have set up websites to help you [...]

Environmental and Urban Economics: Green Harvard Battles Allston Rats

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:19:00 -0500

Apparently, it is not hard to get into Harvard. Ask these Rats. They clearly were
excited about the opportunity to be research subjects in the new Allston labs and came up from below ground to volunteer to be part of randomized trials. They were "rewarded" for their altruism with sharp [...]

Calculated Risk: House Prices: Real Prices, Price-to-Rent, and Price-to-Income

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:10:00 -0500

Here are three key measures of house prices: Price-to-Rent, Price-to-Income and real prices based on the Case-Shiller quarterly national home price index.

Price-to-Rent

In October 2004, Fed economist John Krainer and researcher Chishen Wei wrote a Fed letter on price to rent ratios: House Prices and Fundamental [...]

voluntary Xchange: My Macro Forecast

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:08:40 -0500

I was asked for a medium-term outlook.

So, what do I think? Recessions end. This one did, just like all the others. Expansions didn't used to start out sluggishly; I'm interested that we've had two in a row that did, but I'm not sure that makes a pattern that will [...]

The Big Picture: New Blog: “Economists for Firing Larry Summers”

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:06:45 -0500

Number of comments: 10

While many people seem to be agitating for Turbo Timmy’s dismissal, an underground drumbeat has begun calling for Summer’s head:

How can you not find some appreciation for a blog that is devoted to helping a man spend more time with his loved ones?

[...]

Businesspundit: 2.1 Million Stork Craft Drop-Side Cribs Recalled

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:47:53 -0500

Image: CPSC

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today announced a recall of Stork Craft drop-side cribs. More than 2.1 million cribs are being recalled. Infants can become entrapped and suffocate when the drop-side drops one or more corners. The CPSC has more:

[...]

The Big Picture: David Rosenberg on GDP

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:45:10 -0500

Number of comments: 2

David Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff, and the CNBC news team look ahead to today’s GDP data and share their economic outlooks.

Airtime: Tues. Nov. 24 2009 | 7:30 AM ET

[...]

The Big Picture: Visualizing empires decline

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:30:02 -0500

Number of comments: 3

Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.

Where is the spinoff of the US from Britain?

Hat tip Paul

[...]

EconLog: Where Health Care Reform Stands

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:16:00 -0500

(November 24, 2009 04:16 PM, by Arnold Kling) Ronald Brownstein writes To save costs, Democrats mostly want to change the incentives for providers. Republicans mostly want to change the incentives for patients by shifting toward a model where insurance covers only catastrophic expenses and people pay for more... [...]

Healthcare Economist: Why it is difficult to evaluate physicians quality: No medical home

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:15:51 -0500

One laudable goal is to improve medical quality while reducing cost. One way members of Congress have proposed to accomplish this is to use episode groupers in order to provide feedback to doctors regarding their resource use. None other than Max Baucus has advocated this (see p. 45 of this [...]

Cafe Hayek: Hold the Pork on that Ham Sandwich

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:10:17 -0500

Number of comments: 14

Reading this editorial in today’s Baltimore Sun makes me realize that the world is full of people who believe in square circles, mighty hurricanes whose strongest winds are but gentle breezes, and (of course) cats that bark. I sent this letter in response:

You are right to decry the increasing [...]

HSH Associates Financial News Blog: All Good Things Must Come to An End

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:02:58 -0500

It’s safe to say that when it comes to government programs — whether they be consumer incentives (tax credits), industry overhauls (credit card and financial reform), or economic initiatives (stimulus, loan mods and refis) — we at HSH.com are skeptics. Our first reaction tends to be one of query [...]

The Big Picture: Case-Shiller Home Price Indices Fall 8.9% Yearly

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:00:03 -0500

Number of comments: 5

The latest Case Shiller Index is out, and it fell 8.9% year over year, but rose a modest 0.3% for the month. The Home Price Index improved in Q3 of 2009 — its 2nd consecutive quarterly increase. Prices declined 8.9% in the quarter versus Q3 2008.

Prior Quarterly falls were worse, [...]

Freakonomics: Today, I Am a Lawbreaker: A Freakonomics Contest

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:54:45 -0500

Yesterday, and for much of the past year, I regularly did something that was perfectly legal. Starting today, if I do the same thing, I am breaking a New York State law. What is it that I'm doing? The first correct answer earns a signed copy of SuperFreakonomics or a piece of Freakonomics' [...]

Calculated Risk: FDIC Q3 Banking Profile: 552 Problem Banks

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:42:00 -0500

The FDIC released the Q3 Quarterly Banking Profile today. The FDIC listed 552 banks with $345.9 billion in assets as “problem” banks in Q3, up from 416 banks with $299.8 billion in assets in Q2, and 252 and $159.4 billion in assets in Q4 2008.

Note: Not [...]

The Big Picture: Confidence rises but labor market remains tough

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:39:44 -0500

Nov Confidence was 49.5 up from 48.7 in Oct and above estimates of 47.3 but still remains below the high this year of 54.8 in May. The rise was all on the Expectations side which rose 1.5 pts. Present Situation was down .1 to the lowest level since ‘83. Those [...]

Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: Ways to Boost Your Student Evaluations

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:36:26 -0500

Number of comments: 5

Alex Tabarrok writes:

Marginal Revolution: Sweet Trade: Here is a fun, easy and effective experiment that instructors can use to illustrate the gains from trade. The instructor puts chocolate bars ("fun-size") or other candy in bags, one bag for each student. (Alternatively, you can use the type of small [...]

Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: Hoisted from the Archives (2002): Mark-My-Beliefs-to-Market Time: Argentina

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:34:45 -0500

Number of comments: 4

Hoisted from the Archives:

Mark-My-Beliefs-to-Market Time: Archive Entry From Brad DeLong's Webjournal: I am reading Michael Mussa's brand-new very short book on the latest Argentinian financial crisis [Michael Mussa (2002), Argentina and the Fund: From Triumph to Tragedy (Washington: Institute for International Economics: 088132339X)]. In The Importance of Being Earnest, [...]

Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: The Peculiar Puzzle of Blanche Lincoln and Carl Hulse

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:31:48 -0500

Number of comments: 4

Matthew Yglesias writes:

Matthew Yglesias: Blanche Lincoln, Racing Horse: Blanche Lincoln has emerged as one of the pivotal votes in the US Senate debate about health care reform. So an article about her and her role in the debate seems like a smart thing for a newspaper to run. [...]

Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: Good News for Health Care Reform...

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:30:22 -0500

Number of comments: 3

But bad news for the American press. Ezra Klein and Stan Collender pile on to David Broder. Each day the Washington Post publishes David Broder is another day of humiliation for serious journalists working for the Post, for Newsweek, etc.--and also a day of humiliation for all those working for [...]

Mises Economics Blog: Professor Embraces "Social Value" Over Free Speech

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:21:10 -0500

I'm never surprised when a college professor embraces state censorship. Still, Rick Karcher makes a particularly laughable attempt. He considers it a violation of "journalistic ethics" for the Associated Press to report on, um, government activity:

' [...]

Marginal Revolution: The "paradox of choice" is not robust

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:15:00 -0500

I missed this one while traveling, so I am grateful to the loyal MR reader who pointed it out to me:

... the psychological effect may not actually exist at all. It is hard to find much evidence that retailers are ferociously simplifying their offerings in an effort to boost sales. [...]

The Austrian Economists: Review Of Austrian Economics

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:06:32 -0500

David L. Prychitko

A reminder that the Review is available online (I think you need to be a subscriber or part of a university subscription to access it). It has all back issues plus the "Online First" set of forthcoming articles. I mention this in the interests of the journal, [...]

The Big Picture: Coming to Florida

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:00:04 -0500

In 3 weeks, we will be in south Florida (the week of December 14 -16th).

We will be meeting with current and future clients. Anyone in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale who would like to sit down one-on-one with us to discuss their investments, retirement accounts, etc. please email Joe Fitzgerald with [...]

Freakonomics: Need to Know How Charitable You Are? There's an App for That

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:57:00 -0500

Chapter 3 of SuperFreakonomics, called "Unbelievable Stories About Apathy and Altruism," takes a look at the research of John List (the Univ. of Chicago economist, not the notorious murderer of the same same - although the same chapter does cast a new light on a famous murder as well). List's' [...]

Calculated Risk: Case Shiller Home Price Graphs

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:56:00 -0500

S&P/Case-Shiller released their monthly Home Price Indices for September this morning.

This monthly data includes prices for 20 individual cities, and two composite indices (10 cities and 20 cities). NOTE: This is the Not Seasonally Adjusted data - the link is broken for the SA data.
[...]

The Capital Spectator: DOWNSIZING THE FIRST ESTIMATE OF Q3 GDP

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:42:30 -0500

Today's release of second estimate of third-quarter GDP reveals that the economy expanded at a slower pace than originally reported. The initial 3.5% annualized real growth in the U.S. for Q3 was, we're now told, just 2.8%.

Meantime, corporate profits skyrocketed in Q3. As companies shed payrolls, the cost' [...]

Angry Bear: China’s Industrial Policy vs. US Random Behavior...Firedoglake

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:39:00 -0500

Number of comments: 15
Rdan

Firedoglake presents a well written piece on US and Chinese trade policy:

China’s Industrial Policy vs. US Random Behavior

The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission has issued its annual report {giant .pdf}. Robert Borosage of the Campaign for America’s Future [...]

Liberalism-Capitalism-Globalisation: Uppföljningsartikel om MP

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:25:27 -0500

På Newsmill skriver jag en uppföljande och sammanfattande artikel om varför MP är en attraktiv koalitionspartner för alliansen, men knappast någon lämplig hemvist för mig och andra liberaler:

"[De av Miljöpartiets synpunkter som jag nämner] handlar inte så mycket om miljö, det handlar om estetik och livsstil. Och då spelar [...]

Calculated Risk: Case-Shiller House Prices Increase in September

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:12:00 -0500

Note: I will have graphs as soon as S&P releases the data online.

S&P reports the Composite 10 index increased 0.3% in September, and the Composite 20 index increased 0.3% (both SA). Eleven cities posted increases, nine showed price declines.

From S&P: “We have seen broad improvement in [...]

Paul Krugman: Money, mouth

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:05:38 -0500

Number of comments: 15
What does one of the most successful bond investors in history know? [...]

Stumbling and Mumbling: Some new happiness research

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:04:24 -0500

Here are three new papers on happiness research.
First, German research finds that there’s a strong day of the week effect upon happiness. People are much less happy on Sundays than other days; they side with Billie Holiday rather than Fats Domino.
You might think this [...]

Paul Krugman: Gee, that's De Pressing

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:00:36 -0500

Number of comments: 15
Basically, we may be in a technical recovery, but we're not recovering.' [...]

The Austrian Economists: The Future of Austrian Economics as a Progressive Research Program

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:59:11 -0500

|Peter Boettke|

Over at ThinkMarkets, Mario Rizzo explains "What is Austrian Economics?" He explains the origins of his classic work with O'Driscoll, The Economics of Time & Ignorance, and also explains how in the New Palgrave, he discusses "current work" in the Austrian tradition. I think his final paragraph [...]

Greg Mankiw's Blog: Now it all makes sense

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:59:00 -0500

Click on the graphic to enlarge.
[...]

EconLog: SuperFreakonomics, III

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:56:00 -0500

(November 24, 2009 01:56 PM, by David Henderson) This is my third post (see the first two here and here) on Levitt and Dubner's SuperFreakonomics. Chapter 3 is one of my favorite chapters in the book, for one main reason: the way it deals with the Kitty Genovese... [...]

Calculated Risk: Q3 GDP Revised Down to 2.8%

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0500

From the BEA: Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2009, (that is, from the second quarter to the third quarter), [...]

EconLog: Congressional Millionaires

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:16:00 -0500

(November 24, 2009 01:16 PM, by Bryan Caplan) Factoids of the day: 1. 54% of Congressmen are millionaires. 2. Consistent with the "limosine liberals" stereotype, eight out of the ten richest are Democrats.I wonder how much of this can be explained by the vast overrepresentation of lawyers in... [...]

Environmental Economics: Copenhagen in a sentence

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:13:12 -0500

From the USAToday today:

Technologies to cut back carbon dioxide emissions from factories and vehicles that feed the global economy add costs to fuel, food and more, an option that appeals neither to industrial nations struggling with the global economic meltdown or developing nations trying to ramp up economic growth.

[...]

EconLog: Be a Koch Fellow

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:06:00 -0500

(November 24, 2009 01:06 PM, by Bryan Caplan) The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation is still taking applications for spring Internships in D.C. The deadline: December 4th. If you're a student who'd like to get paid to talk about the kinds of things you read on econ blogs,... [...]

Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: The People Who Sell Their Forecasts to Paying Clients Believe the Stimulus Is Working

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:03:42 -0500

Number of comments: 6

Only those who make their nut one way or the other by pleasing Republicans claim that it isn't. Jackie Calmes and Michael Cooper are on the case:

Jackie Calmes and Michael Cooper: Now that unemployment has topped 10 percent, some liberal-leaning economists see confirmation of their warnings that the' [...]

EconLog: What I've Been Reading

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:52:00 -0500

(November 24, 2009 12:52 PM, by Arnold Kling) In order of satisfaction: 1. Empire of Liberty,by Gordon Wood 2. The Great Transformation, by Karl Polanyi 3. Masters and Commanders, by Andrew Roberts 4. Startup Nation, by Dan Senor and Saul Singer Wood is giving us the history of... [...]

Freakonomics: Why California's Tuition Hike Might Be a Good Thing

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:50:27 -0500

Students at University of California schools have been protesting the decision of the Board of Regents "to raise undergraduate fees - the equivalent of tuition - 32 percent next fall." But higher tuition, if it is accompanied with higher financial aid for lower- and middle-income students, improves equity. As Aaron [...]

Marginal Revolution: How worried should we be about the deficit?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:32:00 -0500

There have been many posts on this topic lately, start with Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong if you need to catch up. Today I have a few simple points:

1. Even if "it is fine to borrow more" is the most likely scenario, it is not the only scenario. Let's take [...]

Cafe Hayek: For Our Chinese Readers

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:31:31 -0500

Number of comments: 6

David Boaz’s Libertarianism: A Primer in Chinese. (HT Tom Palmer)

[...]

Marginal Revolution: Sweet Trade

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:15:00 -0500

Here is a fun, easy and effective experiment that instructors can use to illustrate the gains from trade. The instructor puts chocolate bars ("fun-size") or other candy in bags, one bag for each student. (Alternatively, you can use the type of small items that you can find at a dollar [...]

Businomics Blog: Consumer Attitudes: The Future of Saving and Spending

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0500

This recession has shaken people up, but what will be the lasting effects on consumer behavior? That's one of the key questions as we look forward at the nature of the recovery. I've been arguing for a "return to normalcy," in which people will abandon the exuberance of the boom, [...]

Paul Krugman: Notes on the dollar panic

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:56:54 -0500

Number of comments: 15
The financial press has us scared about all the wrong things. [...]

Businesspundit: Bathroom Wall Discussion

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:42:48 -0500

[...]

Felix Salmon: Clearing up Miller-MooreFelix Salmon

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:42:46 -0500

Many thanks to Brad Miller, one of the co-sponsors of the Miller-Moore amendment, who has been doing the rounds of the blogs trying to explain what it does and doesn't do. He left a comment on my blog on Sunday, and another on Yves Smith's today; I' [...]

Mises Economics Blog: The Ethics of Freedom and Climate Change

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:35:46 -0500

The possible damages of climate change should be compared with the possible damages of governmental bureaucratic intervention and political oppression. FULL ARTICLE by Francisco Capella

[...]

Mises Economics Blog: How to Conquer Poverty

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:34:15 -0500

One increases production by making investments in more efficient tools. The free-swinging enterpriser, using capitalist savings, is the true hero of the war on poverty. FULL ARTICLE by John Chamberlain

[...]

Mises Economics Blog: Do Antitrust Laws Preserve Competition?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:32:17 -0500

Competition is not a mode of conduct that anyone has to promote institutionally. It develops naturally and necessarily among persons who are free to pursue their own interests. FULL ARTICLE by Sylvester Petro

[...]

Greg Mankiw's Blog: Healthcare Reform and the Big Tradeoff

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:30:00 -0500

David Brooks gets it right today about the debate over healthcare reform. The fundamental question is, Should Americans embrace a more robust social safety net at the cost of much higher marginal tax rates, reduced work incentives, and a smaller economic pie?

From a strictly economic perspective, there [...]

Newmark's Door: "Harvard Releases Infomercial to Boost Adminissions"

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:49:00 -0500

You'll laugh at least once or your money back. [...]

Newmark's Door: Three on the fun and games at the Climatic Research Unit

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:49:00 -0500

By now you've read about the interesting information from the Climatic Research Unit that has recently been made public. Here, though, are three pieces you may not have seen.

Two months ago, Patrick J. Michaels warned that CRU seemed to have "lost or destroyed" much of the key historical temperature [...]

Newmark's Door: For people looking for something to do this weekend other than watch football

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:39:00 -0500

"Classic Cinema Online". [...]

David Smith's EconomicsUK.com: Business investment down again

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0500

Business investment has fallen sharply in this recession, dropping by 3% in the third quarter for a fall of 21.7% on a year earlier. The 12-month fall in manufacturing investment was 28.9%. At least the latest fall in business investment... [...]

Newmark's Door: Friends for almost 60 years

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:16:00 -0500

Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. "The 2000 Year Old Man: The Complete History" is in stores today.

[...]

EconLog: Price Discrimination Explains Everything

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:15:00 -0500

(November 24, 2009 10:15 AM, by Arnold Kling) In my high school economics class, my students asked me to explain why there are sales on "Black Friday." The class period was over, so I only had time to blurt out "price discrimination" without getting into an explanation of... [...]

Newmark's Door: "Not your typical frosh"

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:10:00 -0500

Cute article comparing Marvin, a random USC freshman, with Matt Barkley, USC's freshman quarterback. [...]

Liberalism-Capitalism-Globalisation: Monbiot: "This is a major blow"

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:16:52 -0500

George Monbiot is one of the most radical leftist environmentalists I have ever debated. But he is also a man interested in facts and figures. And now he has written an unprecedented apology for having relied on global warming evidence that seems made up by researchers in a growing [...]

Felix Salmon: The upside of outrageFelix Salmon

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:25:23 -0500

Noam Scheiber has the fascinating behind-the-scenes story of how the derivatives-regulation sausage is being made — and how Wall Street, amazingly, seems to be losing the lobbying war, at least for the time being. In a nutshell, the banks sought to get around proposed new derivatives regulations by creating [...]

Andrew Leigh: Experimental Conference

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:11:13 -0500

For any economists interested in laboratory or field experiments, Nikos Nikiforakis and colleagues are running a conference in February next year. Paper submissions close on 30 November. Details over the fold.

The University of Melbourne will be hosting the 2010 Asia-Pacific of the Economic Science Association (ESA) in [...]

Spontaneous Order: What is Austrian Economics?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:07:00 -0500

NYU's Austrian Economics guru Mario Rizzo has this to say. Here is the entry Mario wrote for the New Palgrave.

I met Mario once when I was attending the FEE Austrian seminar, a real scholar and gentleman. It was also at FEE where I met [...]

Organizations and Markets: Modest, Slow, Molecular, Definitive

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:12:14 -0500

Number of comments: 1
| Peter Klein | In an oft-cited passage from The Mechanisms of Governance (1996), Williamson describes the research program of transaction cost economics this way: Transaction cost economics (1) eschews intuitive notions of complexity and asks what the dimensions are on which transactions differ that present differential hazards. It further (2) asks [...]

Cafe Hayek: Financial reform

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:58:53 -0500

Number of comments: 3

If you tried but couldn’t get to my piece on financial reform at the Economists’ Voice, you can get it here.

[...]

Cafe Hayek: Robb on Superfreakonomics

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:45:36 -0500

Number of comments: 12

He doesn’t like it. (HT: Paul Solman) I share Robb’s skepticism about drawing conclusions from empirical work that either ignores other factors or purports to control for them in the name of creating a “natural experiment.” Having been in the kitchen, I know how this dish gets cooked. [...]

Calculated Risk: Mortgages: 23% of Borrowers have Negative Equity

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:43:00 -0500

From the WSJ: 1 in 4 Borrowers Under Water The proportion of U.S. homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than the properties are worth has swelled to about 23% ...

Home prices have fallen so far that 5.3 million U.S. households are tied to mortgages that are [...]

The Emirates Economist: Fifa attractions

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:19:00 -0500

Number of comments: 1

Source: WSJ [...]

The Emirates Economist: As predicted

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:56:00 -0500

Bloomberg: Dubai Surrenders Autonomy as Crisis Bolsters Oil-Rich Abu Dhabi
Until last month, a billboard at one of Dubai’s busiest roundabouts featured one photo, of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The new billboard says “Long live our Emirates union” and also shows United Arab Emirates [...]

Calculated Risk: Forecasts: Unhappy Holidays for Restaurants and Hotels

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:23:00 -0500

Update on the Chicago Fed Index post: According to the Chicago Fed, the "CFNAI-MA3 moves significantly into positive territory a few months after the official NBER date of the trough". Earlier I was excerpting from the entering recession section. This suggests - using this index - it is [...]

CoreEcon: US inflation

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:02:45 -0500

There are two extreme views going around regarding where US inflation is headed. Those who subscribe to the view that the US is in for a long period of insufficient demand see the risk as being a Japanese style decade long deflation. On the other side are those who see [...]