Posted in trade on Aug 16th, 2017
Here is Noah Smith on trade, The development of these new models is good news for the economics profession. It means that mainstream economists are diversifying their approaches, supplementing their old simple models with new ones that recognize the fantastic complexity of the real-world economy You mean, like Hayek and most real economists? Maybe the […]
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Should the likes of Donald Trump and his economic ilk ever choose to be intellectually consistent, particularly with their view that trading with human beings who happen to reside in other countries is bad for human beings who happen to reside within the borders of the United States, then surely they should ban the following: […]
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Via David Henderson this morning: “If our antidumping laws applied to U.S. companies, every after-Christmas sale in the country would be banned.” That is from trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati And here is another, this time from someone less famous whom you know a bit better: “Recycling enthusiasts should be the world’s most ardent free-traders.” […]
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Posted in Fun Facts, trade on Oct 17th, 2016
Via the World Bank: The share of US economic activity coming from trade is about half of what it is for the rest of the world. Note that I think prior to World War 1 this was not at all the case. Do we see a rise in anti-trade Trumpism/Hillaryism around the world too? Note that I […]
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Of course, he did not go far enough on Cuba, but that’s like getting angry at … well, you find an apt analogy. I am ready for an “opponent” of mine to say, “but then you just approved an Executive Order and aren’t you really against overreaeches of power?” You DO have a point. But […]
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Suppose you are worried that some particular activity threatens the water that you rely upon. In many cases, since there are so many possible polluters invading “our” water resources and since there are so many people who use a water source, the idea of arranging contracts between polluters and pollutees to get an optimum amount […]
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Posted in Central Planning, trade on Jul 11th, 2014
America’s Great Leap Forward? One thing that has always caused me mental contortions is to read posters like this, or exhortations to buy local and such … and in the next minute hearing exhortations to embrace and celebrate diversity. However before you agree strongly with me, there is a lot of truth to the idea […]
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Posted in Price System, trade on Jun 14th, 2013
How come when folks read headlines like this, “An electric eGallon costs three times less than real gasoline!” that they (correctly) don’t worry about all of the jobs that will be destroyed in the oil and gas sector? We’ll dig into their calculation later to check for its accuracy. UPDATE: Link updated. Those of you […]
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… to increase America’s “dependence” on foreign chemicals, minerals and pharmaceuticals. Seriously, that’s a tautological statement when paired with, “I have a plan for American energy independence …” Now you may want to argue that there are all kinds of national security reasons for wanting a country to be self-sufficient in energy. But becoming self-sufficient in producing […]
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Posted in Environment, Price System, trade on Jun 21st, 2012
In yet another sign that natural gas frackers have no regard for their environment or your environment I have just come to learn that fracking companies in Pennsylvania have been authorized to inject acid water into their wells. For some background, the average amount of water needed for fracked wells is 5 to 8 million […]
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