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Category Archive for 'Courses & Student Resources'

Perhaps I Should Append This Image to All of My Course Syllabi

Posted in Behavior, Courses & Student Resources on Dec 30th, 2012

HT to Randy Parker of ECU.

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Mental Accounting and Wasting Time

Posted in Economics 108, Methodology on Aug 31st, 2012

Today we sponsor a guest post from UR undergraduate student Zhenghao Li. I told him to write up a great question he asked me the other day about how it is that some people seem to hold inconsistent positions when it comes to valuing their time. I’ll withhold comments and give him the stage. I [...]

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Wasteful Waste vs. Productive Waste

Posted in Economics 238W, Environment, Extended Order, Institutions, Price System, Property Rights, Resources, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Jun 28th, 2012

George Stigler, I think, once quipped, "If you never missed a flight in your life, you've spent too much time in an airport." While there is much wisdom in this observation, I would recommend not taking it too seriously. We like to get to airports early so that we do not miss our flights. There [...]

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Liberty Week Upcoming at the AHI-Rochester

Posted in Courses & Student Resources on Mar 19th, 2012

Check out what we have in store for next week. All students are of course welcome as are any residents in or near the Rochester area.  (I will repost this several times in the coming days, I apologize for that). Liberty Week Speaker Series "Litigating for Liberty" Sunday March 25, 2012 7PM-8:30PM University of Rochester, [...]

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The Broken Transmission Fallacy

Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Economics 108 on Aug 31st, 2011

On a drive to Ontario Beach Park the other day, our transmission had a feeder tube break. We lost all of the tranny fluid, which when I kept driving it led to the complete wreckage of our transmission. Our car is in the shop now undergoing the construction of a brand new transmission. Total cost [...]

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How Fundamental is the Rationality Assumption?

Posted in Economics 207, Methodology on Mar 9th, 2011

The rationality assumption is what makes economics economics, apart from the other social sciences. At least so it seems. What is this assumption? It is best thought as this: when we study human action, we assume that individuals have a goal they are trying to achieve, and that they pursue that goal in a consistent [...]

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