The Unbroken Window

Automobile technology has improved dramatically over the past three decades. Given the relative cheapness of gasoline, as well as the increases in household income and total compensation over the same time period, rather than use these technological advances to produce (and consume) cars that get better gas mileage, “we” have used it to build larger, […]

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More shameless self promotion. OK, if you wish to hear speak about it on KLOVE’s Closer Look program, you can listen here.

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Americans Driving At Historic Lows
Eleven Billion Fewer Vehicle Miles Traveled in March 2008 Over Previous March
WASHINGTON — Americans drove less in March 2008, continuing a trend that began last November, according to estimates released today from the Federal Highway Administration.
“That Americans are driving less underscores the challenges facing the Highway Trust Fund and its reliance […]

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The ever interesting Allen Sanderson on how incentives might be put to better use in the public spehere:
if treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke were required to hold their entire wealth portfolios in the form of U.S. savings bonds, perhaps we’d see more balanced budgets and less inflation.
Read more ideas here. One […]

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I was recently asked to put in perspective what will happen to Americans from the large recent increases in world wheat prices. Below are some partial thoughts. Most of the following national data comes from a government report called the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX).  Before presenting some basic statistics on household food consumption, it is […]

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My brief take in the Christian Science Monitor:
Yet despite the recent rise in food prices, over a longer period of time, spending on food as a percentage of household income has been declining, points out Michael Rizzo, senior economist at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) in Great Barrington, Mass. For example, in 1970, […]

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Well, across universities they are different, but it is not the case within a specific college. For example, physics majors pay the same price as philosophy majors, all else equal. But does it make sense to charge students the same exact thing for what is essentially two entirely different products? Is this equilibrium stable and […]

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Mayor John Barrett is “livid” over the gouging we helpless citizens endure at the greedy hands of unscrupulous middlemen. He correctly observes that soon after gasoline’s wholesale prices rise, retailers raise prices at the pump, even though all of the gasoline in their tanks was already bought at lower prices. The Mayor calls this practice […]

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I love the heading the Eagle editors gave to the following letter (”Price Hikes Not Always Gouging“) 
 
To the Editor
The Berkshire Eagle
75 South Church Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Dear Editor:
Mayor Barrett correctly observes that soon after gasoline’s wholesale prices rise, retailers raise prices at the pump, even though all of the gasoline in their tanks was already bought at lower […]

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Two candidates this week!

Roland Fryer, a Harvard economist, joined the Education Department this year as chief equality officer.

“Price of Helium Keeps Rising” … “more than a third of the world’s supply comes from a single U.S. government stockpile near Amarillo, Texas”

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