The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. - F.A. Hayek
Posted in Corporatism on Jul 30th, 2008
Holman Jenkins is one of my favorite columnists, until today. In today’s article he recommends destroying tens of thousands of new, but vacant, homes as a way to buoy home prices, restore confidence in home buyers and to sure up the many financial institutions that have a horse in the housing race.
Posted in Education on Jul 30th, 2008
After months of negotiations, lawmakers have reached agreement on a long-delayed bill that would set federal higher-education policy for at least the next five years. It includes penalties for states that slow down spending on higher education.
This bill was something like 4 years overdue. I’ll comment on the entire thing when I can find a […]
Posted in Constitution on Jul 30th, 2008
In a new book on ranking the Presidents:
A key lesson of the book is that historians tend to give high marks to an “activist” presidency without judging whether the activism had good or ill effects. Take Andrew Jackson, a dynamic leader who almost always figures in the historical Top Ten. But in Jackson’s own Farewell […]
Posted in incentives on Jul 29th, 2008
A report to be released Monday by the Transportation Department shows that over the past seven months, Americans have reduced their driving by more than 40 billion miles. Because of high gasoline prices, they drove 3.7% fewer miles in May than they did a year earlier, the report says, more than double the 1.8% drop-off […]
Posted in Economics Problems, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Jul 28th, 2008
Analagous to the foundation for Schumpeter’s belief in the imminent decline of capitalism (it was too successful) - one of the achievements in economics has been the “field’s”ability to criticize itself. These criticisms were advanced in the spirit of scientific inquiry - to better understand the causes and consequences of human actions, but have been picked […]
Posted in Socialism, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Jul 25th, 2008
Upon the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935, an Amish sect refused to pay the tax on religious grounds. Interestingly their opposition is grounded in a religious conviction that insurance was seen as not trusting in God - insurance was a worldly operation. They were not opposed to the payment of taxes. The left […]
Posted in Macroeconomics on Jul 24th, 2008
The evidence summarized in Section I cuts against claims that American workers and families faced a rising tide of economic insecurity in recent years. There are many dimensions of economic insecurity, but the risk of job loss is usually seen as one of the major economic risks facing individuals. That particular risk has declined substantially. […]
Posted in Development on Jul 23rd, 2008
And why not elsewhere? It is a popular question. A recent paper sheds additional light:
This paper sets out to test, with a formal computational general equilibrium (CGE) model, the role of trade with the New World, and trade itself, in explaining the growth of productivity and income in Industrial Revolution Britain. We find, to our […]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jul 23rd, 2008
I believe it’s the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Sante Fe, NM. Be that as it may, my brother Andrew will be playing the lead in an eponymous movie.
In July, they’ll begin shooting their first full-length feature film titled “The Best Bar in America.” The brothers describe the Montana-based adventure-comedy about three men who travel the […]
Posted in Socialism on Jul 23rd, 2008
Someone should remind him that capitalism without failure is like religion without sin.
That’s Gerry O’Driscoll on the Fannie and Freddie fiasco.
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