"For 40 years Walter was the heart and soul of George Mason’s unique Department of Economics. Our department unapologetically resists the trend of teaching economics as if it’s a guide for social engineers. This resistance reflects Walter’s commitment to liberal individualism and his belief that ordinary men and women deserve, as his friend Thomas Sowell puts it, “elbow room for themselves and a refuge from the rampaging presumptions of their ‘betters.’"
By the latest count, President-elect Biden won more than 51 percent of the popular vote in this year's presidential election, a larger total than received by any candidate challenging an incumbent president since Franklin Roosevelt beat Herbert Hoover in a landslide in 1932.
The summer of COVID-19, quarantines, riot and arson, and an absence of confidence in the sanctity of voting ended with deep wounds on the body politic—wounds we will bear from now on.
by Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, Steven J. Davisvia Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago
Monday, December 7, 2020
Nearly one-quarter (22%) of full workdays will be supplied from home in the United States after the pandemic, compared with just 5% before, and productivity will improve.
The Fed wants to control inflation. Now, it targets the nominal interest rate. But to do that it has to guess what the right real interest rate is. Nominal interest rate = real interest rate plus expected inflation.
It’s easy to dismiss the upcoming Senate elections in Georgia as just another vote to decide two more seats in Congress—and that, ultimately, it may not be all that consequential. I’m sure some of our fellow Americans—and more than a few Georgians—wonder what the point of voting is at all, especially given the outcome of the recent presidential elections.
Author and economist Branko Milanovic of CUNY talks about the big questions in economics with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Milanovic argues that the Nobel Prize Committee is missing an opportunity to encourage more ambitious work by awarding the prize to economists tackling questions like the rise of China's economy and other challenging but crucial areas of scholarship. In the conversation, he lays out what those questions might be and discusses what we know and don't know in these areas.
The President and CEO of the Aurora Institute, Susan Patrick, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how schools can continue to adapt and improve their remote learning environments.
From the vantage point of 2020, it can seem hard to imagine Americans uniting over anything, much less a massive rescue operation for starving strangers. The country has become so inward-looking that it has lost focus on the world beyond its shores.
Some acquaintances recently paddled surfboards and kayaks into the Pacific to disperse a relative’s ashes where he loved to surf. During the memorial service, one brother of the deceased expressed concern about the risk from sharks.
Who are those guys? In December 1972, I was in southern Ontario for Christmas after a fairly successful first quarter in the Ph.D. program at UCLA. I had Christmas with my friend and fellow Canadian UCLAer, Harry Watson, at his mom’s (“mum’s” to Canadians) place in Brantford.
Hoover is hiring in its fellows program! This is roughly analogous to an assistant/associate professor position, aimed at new PhDs or people out a few years as postdoc or assistant professor. Information here. Deadline Dec 11.
Hoover Institution fellow Richard Epstein talks about AG Barr appointing John Durham as Special Counsel to continue investigations into various actors around [Russiagate].
Bitcoin made a new record high this week, but it has been a characteristically wild ride. The cryptocurrency eclipsed $19,857 (£14,897) on Monday, topping its December 2017 high of $19,783.
In the home stretch of the 2020 campaign, presidential candidate Joe Biden leaned hard into the issue of climate change, giving a televised climate speech and running climate-focused ads in swing states. His campaign bet that this issue, once considered politically risky, would now be a winner.
