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Lynne Kiesling at Knowledge Problem drew my attention to this first in a series at The Economist on influential articles in economics. This one highlights George Akerlof’s famous 1970 paper, “The Market for Lemons.” Akerlof’s latest book, Phishing for Phools, took a much different look at asymmetric imformation. Arnold Kling was not impressed. Besides, Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen think the age of information asymmetry is over, anyway.

Britain voted to leave the European Union…While that’s not news, news about how just how very complicated actually leaving might be keeps coming in. For example, this recently filed lawsuit, predicted to reach the UK Supreme Court sometime this year, challenges the legality of Article 50. (For some very helpful background information on the challenges facing Brexit’s implementation, see Anthony de Jasay’s latest column.)

Intellectuals are freaks, says Michael Lind. Those who spend their time in the realm of ideas are tragically out of touch with the values of their fellows, he argues. Presumably this includes all of us? What then is the role for intellectuals in society? You may recall Lind’s portrait of EconLog’s Bryan Caplan in Salon in 2014. I recently posted a link to Lind’s 2013 appearance on EconTalk, in which he argues about the limitations of the particular biases of libertarians. What’s a nerd to do?