- This paper finds that the recent economic growth miracle in Africa has been due to the reduction in the labor force needed on the farms (i.e. agricultural productivity). Great, I have an idea. Let’s ban GMO seeds and modern farming practices, that will help speed things along. By the way, what does such a finding tell you about the future “costs” of climate change? Among the many reasons why “climate change” is supposed to be awful is that in the future Africans (but of course not we enlightened Westerners) are going to fight a heck of a lot more over resources than they do today … it would seem to me that this sentiment is beyond condescending, no? And it would seem to me that this paper suggests that the future costs of climate change may indeed be exaggerated.
- Medical marijuana laws increase the probability of smoking marijuana. No surprise there. But the paper also finds that it increases the prevalence of … binge drinking.
- Were Keynes’ and Hayek’s views of recessions actually closer to each other than we make them out to be? Perhaps on the diagnosis, but not on the cure.
- Modern economics is overly mathematized. 🙂
- Dog bites healthy man: Enrollment by childless adults into public insurance reduces employment. However, remember a second order effect is supposed to improve employer-employee matching.
- In this paper on “curriculum and ideology” the authors find that changing educational materials to make students more trusting in government officials and more skeptical of free markets … works. That was, of course, ONLY for China.
Monday Morning Research
May 12th, 2014 by wintercow20
