EconLog Archive
Economics of Health Care
Why Can’t Food Stamps be Used for a Rotisserie Chicken?
A few months ago, I was in a convenience store and was struck by a customer’s conversation. Surveying the rows of chips, candy bars, ice cream, and soft drinks, she said to her friend, “I can literally buy anything I want in here with my EBT card, except for hot things, like the coffee or .. MORE
Economics of Crime
Should we allow bribery?
Here’s the Financial Times: Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to halt the enforcement of a US anti-corruption law that bars Americans from bribing foreign government officials to win business. In the past, I did several posts arguing that the US should ban corporations from paying money to those who engage in “ransomware”, .. MORE
Economic Education
EconLog Price Theory: The Membership Difference?
We’re bringing back price theory with our series on Price Theory problems with Professor Bryan Cutsinger. You can view the previous problem and Cutsinger’s solution here and here. Share your proposed solutions in the Comments. Professor Cutsinger will be present in the comments for the next couple of weeks, and we’ll post his proposed solution shortly thereafter. May the .. MORE
Energy, Environment, Resources
California’s New Fuel Standards Hurt the Poor, with Little Environment Benefit
California faces a firestorm, not just on fires, but also on energy. The state government continues to push households to electrify while, at the same time, electricity prices skyrocket. The dual impact of increasing dependence on electricity and a 35 to 45% boost in electric bills since 2020 is particularly hard on poor families. .. MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Reno On the Social Effects of Banishing The Strong Gods
In my last post, I described what R. R. Reno believes motivated the banishing of the strong gods, as well as the ideas that made that process happen. In this post, I’ll be reviewing what he sees as the consequences. One of the strong gods to be banished was the idea that communities are a .. MORE
Cost-benefit Analysis
The Limits of Deep Research
Those who read Tyler Cowen’s and Alex Tabarrok’s Marginal Revolution blog regularly, as I do, know that Tyler is a big fan of artificial intelligence (AI). Partly due to his posts and partly due to rave reviews by friends on Facebook, I’m realizing that I need to use it more. Having said that, I want .. MORE
Cross-country Comparisons
Jason Furman on Bidenomics
Among economists on the other side of the political spectrum, Jason Furman has always been one of my favorites. He has a new article in Foreign Affairs entitled The Post-Neoliberal Delusion, which evaluates the economic policies of the Biden administration. In a number of specific cases, he supports Biden administration policies. But Furman also raises .. MORE
Energy, Environment, Resources
Low Water Prices Mean More Damage from LA Fires
The historic—and horrific—fires that have decimated Los Angeles-area neighborhoods have been attributed to obvious causes, not the least of which include the two recent “wet years” that increased vegetation growth on hillsides and in backyards, followed by the last twelve months of drought that turned the added foliage into highly combustible fire fuel. Many experts .. MORE
Economic and Political Philosophy
Environmental Justice and Some Other Funny Stuff
Once in a blue moon, President Donald Trump has a fleetingly good intuition or does something seemingly good (“good” from the point of view of preserving the hope of a free society). This is part of the problem. Consider the announced closing of the “Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights Office” in the Environmental Protection .. MORE
Moral Reasoning
Global nationalism?
I’ve been very discouraged by the global rise in nationalism. But there is one glimmer of hope. Nationalism is often its own worst enemy. Consider the current situation in North America. President Trump clearly dislikes Canada’s Liberal party (especially Justin Trudeau), and would vastly prefer a Conservative government take power north of the border. But .. MORE
Economics of Education
My Weekly Reading for February 9, 2025
Macro myths by Scott Sumner, The Pursuit of Happiness, February 5, 2025. Excerpt: I recently spoke to some Bentley University students (via zoom) about my views on the Great Recession. In this post, I summarize the substance of my talk. Long-time readers will have seen these arguments, but this blog has attracted some new readers .. MORE
Politics and Economics
Jimmy Carter: The First Reaganite
In 1976, American voters registered their anger at Watergate, Richard Nixon, the Republican Party, and the Federal government generally by electing as President Jimmy Carter – with a term each in Georgia’s State Senate and Governor’s mansion and no experience of Washington D.C. whatsoever. Carter frequently denounced “Washington” on the campaign trail and did little .. MORE
Economic and Political Philosophy
Where We Want to Go As A Society
Commonly accepted ideas are often encapsulated in analogical or metaphorical expressions that people use unthinkingly. What they suggest may be true, false, uncertain, misleading, or meaningless. The most dangerous ones look deep or scientific even if they are meaningless. Experts in the exact sciences are often fond of them when speaking about social, political, or .. MORE
Labor Market
Bad News on Inflation
Today’s jobs report provides more evidence for the view that inflation remains a very significant problem. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.5%, well above the 0.3% rate consistent with the Fed’s inflation target. Over the past 12 months, wage inflation has averaged 4.1%, which is only modestly above the roughly 3.0% to 3.5% figure consistent .. MORE
Economics of Health Care
The 1989 Repeal of an Entitlement
In “Undoing Past Policies: How Likely Are Repeals in the 119th Congress?” political scientist Jordan Ragusa lays out a number of conditions that must obtain if repeal of past policies is to succeed. He makes very good points. The main example of a successful repeal that I know of is one that does not fit .. MORE
International Trade
Should Canada Become the 51st State?
Before we explore both sides of this intriguing suggestion, let it be said that it deserves serious consideration, and not just because the president-elect of the United States suggested it. It also deserves our perusal on its own grounds. After all, that more than 3000-mile border between the two countries is not ordained by the .. MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Reno on the Banishing of the Strong Gods
In my first post in this series, I outlined R. R. Reno’s idea of strong gods and weak gods as metaphors for the kinds of ideas that organize societies. Reno argues that the strong gods have been banished, or at least critically diminished, in favor of weak gods. What led to the banishment of the .. MORE
Liberty
Freedom and Responsibility
In recent decades, the Federal government has steadily expanding the reach of regulation. A very good Jacob Sullum piece in Reason magazine points out that this power allows the government to put informal pressure on companies in a way that restricts the freedom of speech: Why is Paramount so eager to settle this comical excuse .. MORE
Liberty
Liberalism, Not Only Freedom, as Vaccine
Scott Sumner offers an argument that liberalism can be a vaccine against authoritarianism. I’m inclined to believe that committed liberals can’t be authoritarian because authoritarianism is illiberal. It’s not so much that liberalism is a vaccine as it is definitionally true that someone who endorses wholesale illiberalism forfeits the liberal label in the process. That’s .. MORE
International Trade
Will Tariffs Lower Prices?
Every once in a while, one will hear an argument for protectionism that protectionist tariffs will ultimately lead to lower prices. The argument they make is an adjusted form of the infant industry argument: domestic firms do not expand because of the presence of foreign competition. Tariffs will force foreign competition out of the market. .. MORE
Taxation
Deadweight Loss From Taxes is Proportional to the Square of the Tax Rate
In a post last week, I stated that the deadweight loss from a tax is proportional to the square of the tax rate. So doubling the tax rate, for example, quadruples the deadweight loss. I stated on Facebook that I used basic algebra to prove this to my students. An economist friend asked me to .. MORE