Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Resources on Nov 19th, 2009
I like to have my students engage in some simple back of the envelope calculations to put certain problems in perspective. One such problem is “our” ability to produce energy. It is perhaps the scariest bogeyman out there. However, here is one example (among dozens) of why we do not have an energy problem. We […]
Posted in Environment on Aug 6th, 2008
That was the question I received in an e-mail from an organization I support, the Nature Conservancy. The e-mail included the following: Check out our new Everyday Environmentalist tips from Nature Conservancy staff on how to make personal, science-based choices (my emphasis added) to help save the planet – from raising your own chickens […]
Posted in Corporatism on Jun 20th, 2008
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) […]
Posted in Standards of Living on May 19th, 2008
If you ain’t making it, you can’t consume it. Productivity growth is the brass ring for any economy concerned with increasing its living standards (there I go anthropomorphizing again). When you can make more things with the same number of people, or make the same amount using fewer people, every individual’s command over resources improves.
Posted in Development on Apr 29th, 2008
No matter what data we seem to show about U.S. trends (manufacturing share of employment fell below 10% last month from a high of 40% during WWII; manufacturing output is at an all-time high; U.S. living standards, per capita, have increased four-fold since WWII), this ridiculous fear still remains. While you might have questions about […]
Posted in Macroeconomics on Mar 23rd, 2008
What the country with the highest GDP growth rate in 2007 was? See here. I know nothing about the place. Is it oil? Wheat? Copper? Poppies? It’s really gotta be lots of commodities … or is it something else? Who has higher GDP, Europe or America? Of 216 countries for which data are reported, where […]
