I’ve just finished reading, and rather enjoyed, Tyler Cowen’s latest book: Average is Over. At a macro level, it is a claim about the dramatic changes we can expect in the economy and our society over the next century. But it has a lot of strange side discussions I wasn’t really expecting. I still can’t […]
Archive | Economy
IQ2US Debate: Abolish The Minimum Wage
At my suggestion, Intelligence Squared is hosting a debate on the motion: Abolish The Minimum Wage. At a time when President Obama is proposing to increase it, I thought it might be useful to go back to first principles and explore whether the minimum wage is good policy in the first place. The debaters are […]
Let’s Play Spot the Fallacies
From a review in the most recent issue of Reviews in American History: Like most conservatives, Shlaes assumes a perfectly competitive marketplace in which the government can only make an unwarranted and counterproductive intrusion. This perspective leads Shlaes to discount the role of jobs programs such as the CCC and the WPA that contributed to […]
The Inconsistency Between the Constitutional Arguments for the Mandate and Medicaid in the ACA
By Eugene Kontorovich on March 29, 2012 6:20 pm in Constitutional Law, Economy, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Supreme Court
Now that Eugene has given me the electronic keys to this Conspiracy, I could not resist getting involved in the now-legendary discussion of the ACA… There is a serious inconsistency between the government’s arguments for the mandate and for the Medicaid expansion. In a nutshell, these arguments make opposite assumptions about the effect of financial […]
The Broken Window Fallacy Rears it Ugly Head
WSJ: “Some economists have argued that a quake could actually lift the economy in the long run, by requiring a surge in rebuilding spending.” Sure. And instead of sending American aid, let’s follow up the earthquake with a few bombing runs over Tokyo. That will really “lift the economy.” Jeez.
Common Mistakes by Economists
Tyler Cowen has assembled two lists of common mistakes made by economists. The first is of common mistakes made by right-wing/market-oriented economists and the second is of common mistakes made by left-wing economists. They’re both quite interesting. UPDATE: I’m not endorsing every item on each list, but I think they both provide much to consider […]
The Resurgence of ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’
Greg Mankiw points to recommended reading by Robert Shiller (and, apparently, Karl Rove). The book? Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments. The book’s resurgence does not surprise me. Certainly not from Shiller who, with George Akerloff, gave us the intriguing book Animal Spirits. Shiller is of course not indifferent to the core point raised by […]
E.J. McMahon Argues for Alternatives to State Bankruptcy, and Fred Siegel on Public Employee Unions
The Manhattan Institute’s EJ McMahon argues for alternatives to state bankruptcy in the Wall Street Journal today. The article is not framed as an argument for the sustainability of the state debt obligations – i.e., raise taxes to the level necessary to cover the promises made – but instead argues that governors and state legislatures […]
Skeel Speaks, NYT Takes Note, and Maybe Congress Listens?
The New York Times ran a front page story today on an issue discussed off and on here at VC, the possibility of creating a bankruptcy chapter for states. It quotes David Skeel, who has been the leading intellectual mover of this idea, along with a number of other people, including various public employee union […]
Bankruptcy for States
Bankruptcy law professor David Skeel, whose new book The New Financial Deal is one I admire a great deal, has a new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today urging a bankruptcy regime for the states. Among his most important points is that bankruptcy for states offers the most likely means that states can address […]
What Would Public Choice Theory Say About Rating Agencies and Sovereign Debt?
Particularly since the European sovereign debt crisis put the question of sovereign debt ratings squarely on the table, and even more in the last few days since the rating agencies have downgraded Greek debt to junk status, I have to wonder what insulates Moody’s, Standard & Poors, and Fitch against pressures direct and indirect, subtle […]
World Food Supplies and Prices
In conversation with someone who, as a senior NGO executive in international development and food aid, is well situated to respond on the question of rising commodity prices for food globally. I asked specifically about the Wall Street Journal news story a few days ago on this topic, which reported: Prices of corn and soybeans […]
Adam Levitin on the New Massachusetts Court Foreclosure Decision
By Kenneth Anderson on January 12, 2011 1:48 pm in Economy, Finance, Financial Crisis, Property Rights
(Update. Megan McArdle has a number of interesting comments and posts on foreclosure, modification, the effect of securitization, and the processes for recording title and other things. This blog post has very interesting comments as well.) Adam Levitin writes at the ForeclosureBlues blog about the Ibanez decision in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (pdf […]
ROI for Law School
Probably many readers have seen this New York Times article, offering a lengthy and well-reported analysis in the Business Pages by David Segal of whether law school is a worthwhile investment. The analysis points to a couple of different factors, including: supply of lawyers outstripping demand, now and into the future; cost of legal education […]
David Skeel’s Excellent Book, and Comparing Discretion in the Financial Crisis and National Security
(Note: I was writing this on the plane without quite being able to see the computer screen, so I’ve gone back and corrected some grammar and spelling, and tried to make a couple of things clearer. I’ll post separately as well on the topic of national security and the financial crisis, and the role of […]