When I taught a cost/benefit analysis course, one of the topics I covered was worker safety. Using W. Kip Viscusi's excellent entry "Job Safety" in The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, I showed that there is an implicit market for safety in the workplace and that workers do a pretty good job of judging relative risks.

By law, managers of employer-sponsored pension plans must act in the best interests of investors. Unfortunately, many such fiduciaries are applying an unusually broad definition. That’s why the U.S. Department of Labor has clarified the issue.

For over a decade there has been a trade war between China and America, with America playing the role of passive victim. China has required American firms investing in its country to take on a Chinese partner and turn over their technology, which it agreed not to do when it joined the World Trade Organization. It has stolen American intellectual property, imposed heavy duties on imported vehicles, subsidized its exports, and manipulated its currency.

Regular reader Ryan P. Long, in response to my post a few days ago, "Krugman on a Wage Puzzle," writes: I've quite enjoyed your recent blog posts. The one on Paul Krugman's idea about wage stagnation was particularly interesting to me. Both his post and yours had me thinking about a hypothesis I've had since the big recession hit, and I want to ask your thoughts.