I will refer you later to a much larger work I’ve put together on “everything you need to know about the economics of climate change” … and among the key uncertainties are: What is the equilibrium climate sensitivity (i.e. long-term feedback)? There is zero consensus on this. (“feedback”) What is an appropriate way to count […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Economics Problems, Economists on May 2nd, 2018
Perhaps that is not a very funny title, but it comes from this: OK, I’ll bite. Not as hard as I used to, but I’ll bite. What is needed is a mandatory course on ethics and the limits of knowledge Well, “mandatory?” What is the meaning of mandatory? In any case I like the idea […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Disingenuous, Economics Problems on Nov 15th, 2017
An excellent former student of mine writes of the following Noah Smith piece: Noah Smith making a strong bid as the leading champion of the intelligent center-left, I have a very hard time with this. Sure, the point of the article is that the term “neoliberalism” gets unfairly tossed around too much and that “markets […]
Read Full Post »
I’m getting too used to Twitter, so the idea of a full-length blog post is less attractive today than in the past. On the other hand, a solid blog post probably has a lot more influence today than it did at the height of blogging before social media really kicked into gear. I wanted to […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Economics Problems on Mar 4th, 2017
When my dad was 30, it was the year I was born, he was having the 5th of his 6th kids, and he was completing his 10th year of full-time work (he put himself through college while working). He had been married for 9 years. When I was 30, I was just finishing my PhD […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Economics Problems on Jan 27th, 2017
Sit these two papers side by side and ponder them. Food prices and poverty China and trade I’ve got so much to say that I’ll end this post here!
Read Full Post »
This sort of article is either why I started blogging in the first place, or am on the verge of quitting. It’s extraordinarily disingenuous and frustrating. Here is one example: With unions only a distant memory for many people, federal minimum-wage legislation has become the best hope for propping up wages for low-income workers. And […]
Read Full Post »
Ezra Klein calls this piece powerful. There is a lot of telling information in it. Brad DeLong’s take on “You Didn’t Build That!” Worthy of a reply by me, but I’m retired and no one cares anyway!
Read Full Post »
In Nordhaus’s Climate Casino (recommended), in describing the problem when market prices do not fully capture all resource costs, as there are many casinos options everywhere so you should learn about different casinos in USA to find the best one for you: However, the unregulated invisible hand sets the prices incorrectly when there are important externalities. Therefore, […]
Read Full Post »