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James Ceaser is the Harry F. Byrd Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, director of the Program for Constitutionalism and Democracy, and was a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is the author of several books on American politics and American political thought, including...
Ruinous 'Compassion'
It is fascinating to see brilliant people belatedly discover the obvious — and to see an even larger number of brilliant people never discover the obvious.
Duffie And Stein On Libor
Darrell Duffie and Jeremy Stein have a nice paper, "Reforming LIBOR and Other Financial-Market Benchmarks" I learned some important lessons from the paper and discussion.
The Ides Of March: Gordon Tullock Strikes Again
Phil Edwards over at Vox has written a fun piece on the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March. Most of us know what we "know" about it from Shakespeare. Bad idea, says Edwards, and he shows why. His piece is appropriately titled "6 myths about the Ides of March and killing Caesar."
Bryan Caplan's Notes
In a post this morning, co-blogger Bryan Caplan made the following statement:
Furthermore, when there's a surplus of workers, the cost of outright bigotry sharply falls.
Arezki, Ramey, And Sheng On News Shocks
I attended the NBER EFG (economic fluctuations and growth) meeting a few weeks ago, and saw a very nice paper by Rabah Arezki, Valerie Ramey, and Liugang Sheng, "News Shocks in Open Economies: Evidence from Giant Oil Discoveries" (There were a lot of nice papers, but this one is more bloggable.)
Gerson's Confusion About Inequality
"Putnam's goal is to reveal the consequences of inequality on kids. This unfairness is rooted in various, interrelated trends: family instability, community dysfunction and the collapse of the blue-collar economy."
A Rare Disagreement With Bryan Caplan
Last week I highlighted Bryan Caplan's comprehensive notes, homework sets, and keys to homework for the courses he teaches.
The Boys In The Boat
On my flight from Chicago to Phoenix on Thursday, I finished The Boys in the Boat. It's subtitled "Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics." I highly recommend it.
A Partial Defense Of David Friedman
Scott Alexander, about whom both David Friedman and co-blogger Bryan Caplan have raved, has a lengthy book review of David's The Machinery of Freedom. As I write this, there are 479 comments on his post and I looked only at about the first 100 or so to see if anyone was making the point I want to make. I didn't find it, so I'll make it here.
Jumps And Diffusions
I learned an interesting continuous time trick recently. The context is a note, "The fragile benefits of endowment destruction" that I wrote with John Campbell, about how to extend our habit model to jumps in consumption.
A New Structure For U.S. Federal Debt
I propose a new structure for U. S. Federal debt. All debt should be perpetual, paying coupons forever with no principal payment.
Richer Than Rockefeller?
I gave a talk at UNC Wilmington on Monday night. The talk was titled "Seven Myths about Free Markets." One of the myths is that with free markets, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
The Miracle Of Compound Interest (And Dividends): A Personal Story
Last summer, I highlighted famous Canadian whisky producer Sam Bronfman's claim that the greatest invention in history is interest. I then posted on how to get rich slowly and drew strongly on the idea of compound interest. Of course, I take the principle to mean compound dividends also; that is, investing in stocks and then reinvesting the dividends in more stocks.
Ed Dolan On ShadowStats
It is hard to think of a website so loved by its followers and so scorned by economists as John Williams' ShadowStats, a widely cited source of alternative economic data on inflation and other economic indicators.
Krugman's Insightful Analysis Of Libertarians
I was too busy on April 1 to post an April Fool's Day entry. This isn't one. But my use of the word "insightful" in the title is meant to be ironic.
Keynesians in Retreat
They’ve been too wrong for far too long.
Consumption-Based Model And Value Premium
Sure, the consumption-based model won't work at a 5 minute interval. But is there some essence of truth in it, that stocks which fall more in business cycles, as measured by consumption, must pay a higher rate of return?
Mankiw's Textbook On Determinants Of Demand Elasticity
I like the book, which is why I use it, but each time I use it, I find things that are off. In a section on determinants of elasticity of demand, Mankiw lists four. The first is "Availability of Close Substitutes." The third is "Definition of the Market."
Substitution In Nicotine Consumption
If the FDA regulates, it will not be to make e-cigarettes more available. It will be to make them more costly, either in terms of accessibility or in terms of price, or both. If so, the FDA regulation will slow this healthy substitution away from more-toxic substances.
Scott Sumner On Interest Rates
Scott Sumner, of Bentley University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about interest rates. Sumner suggests that professional economists sometimes confuse cause and effect with respect to prices and quantities.