The Unbroken Window

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On Econometrics, or to stay ahead of the curve. Here is an 18-hour summer course by Jeffrey Wooldridge and Guide Imbens. Topics include some panel data topics and natural experimentation techniques.

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Professor Christopher Ratte of the University of Michigan had his son taken away from him for two weeks because he purchased him lemonade at a Detroit Tigers game.

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Anyone surprised by last week’s arrest of two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers must have slept through the Enron era. If Enron, WorldCom, Tyco - and the list goes on - taught us anything, it is that whenever the investing public suffers staggering losses on Wall Street, we can expect to see someone hauled […]

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While driving through Adams, MA:
Pedestrian law
Strictly enforced.
It ranks right up there with these, no?

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I went to the post office today for the first time in a long time and I purchased a pile of “Forever Stamps.” These are stamps that cost 42 cents each today, but will remain valid first-class postage on all qualifying mailings regardless of what postage rates might be in the future. Two things about […]

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In the aftermath of a natural disaster the dollar amount of the damages can be staggering. One would think that insurance companies would run and hide. Instead they bend-over-backwards to try and be as visible as possible. Jerry-rigged banners pop up on every corner: “Call Blah-Insurance for your claims” followed by 1-800 numbers. Some even […]

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Let us for the sake of exposition concede the argument of many on the left that individuals have no rights to private property. The typical argument goes something like, “since no one created the land underfoot, no one is entitled to “own” it. Any ownership claims made on land, and its related resources, are therefore a […]

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The literacy rate in Massachusetts was 98% in 1850.
Massachusetts passed a compulsory education law in 1852.
Senator Kennedy released a paper in the 1980s indicating that the literacy rate in Massachusetts was 91%.

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In the city of Olean, NY, a law is being debated that would forbid any private individuals from employing the services of friends or neighbors to do any plumbing work, however minor. Any work that is to be done will be required to be completed by unionized plumbers (”licensed master plumber or a journeyman (apprentice) […]

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