EconLog Archive
Political Economy
Can the State Care About People’s Lives?
The reaction of a French voter to the good showing of the party of extreme-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon against the “centrist” president Emmanuel Macron’s party in the legislative election illustrates how some people have an angelic view of government. The Wall Street Journal reported (“France’s Macron Lost Grip on Parliament Amid Russian Squeeze on Energy Prices,” .. MORE
Behavioral Economics
Kevin Corcoran on the Subjectivity of Advantage and Privilege
Kevin Corcoran, a regular reader of EconLog posts and a frequent commenter, sent me some interesting thoughts that are worth presenting here. I’ve made some slight edits, with Kevin’s consent. I’ll add my own example at the end. Here’s Kevin: I had a thought recently on how the underlying idea of subjectivity of value, as .. MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
My Review of Steven Koonin’s Unsettled
His [Steven Koonin’s] book is full of important, factual information and insights. One of his main messages is that there is much more uncertainty about where the climate is headed than many climate scientists and even a higher percentage of people in the media are willing to admit. And the good news is that the .. MORE
Political Economy
The Peculiar Logic of Collectivist-Speak
The governor of Maine’s letter accompanying the $850 “relief checks” sent to taxpayers contains interesting statements: “This money comes from the record surplus that State government recorded this year. My Administration and Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in the Legislature agreed that, in the face of [the rising costs of everyday goods] it would be best .. MORE
Regulation and Subsidies
NIMBY, YIMBY or MIMBY?
Last week, I visited Venice, a neighborhood in LA that is full of wealthy tech entrepreneurs and homeless people. While strolling along one of the canals, I noticed a sign, “Stop the Monster”. This led me to google the phrase in order to learn more about the issue. The monster is a proposed 140 housing .. MORE
Economic Education
Opportunity Cost Matters
My friend Yusuf and I recently started a Substack called Longterm Liberalism, which aims to bring together insights from classical liberalism and Effective Altruism. Yusuf has two posts up that introduce the blog. One covers the motivation for starting the blog, while the other discusses our principles. He also recently published a post that discusses .. MORE
Incentives
What do you actually believe?
Pollsters ask the public all sorts of questions about their political beliefs. But what does the public actually believe? Is there any reason to assume that people are responding truthfully to the questions asked by pollsters? That may seem like an odd question. Why would people lie to pollsters? I’m not sure, but there is .. MORE
Labor Mobility, Immigration, Outsourcing
The Unjoined Debate
One of my biggest disappointments with blogs (and don’t get me started on Twitter, which is way worse) is that many of the people who comment on posts don’t engage with the author’s argument. I’m not applying this objection to commenters on EconLog because I think that, by and large, they (you) do better than .. MORE
Politics and Economics
Blue votes, red policy
South Dakota put abortion bans on the ballot several times, and each time the initiative was soundly rejected by voters: In 2006, lawmakers passed a bill banning almost all abortions, which Gov. Mike Rounds signed. It set off a brutal campaign that became the dominant issue in a busy election year that featured a governor’s race .. MORE
Cross-country Comparisons
Krugman on the effects of a hot economy
People often suggest that a fast growing economy is inflationary. I would argue that exactly the opposite is true. Consider this data for Venezuela and Singapore from an old Robert Barro textbook: Venezuela (1950-90): Average RGDP growth = 4.4% Average inflation = 8.0% Singapore (1963-89): Average RGDP growth = 8.1% Average inflation = .. MORE
Economic and Political Philosophy
Second Amendment: Beyond Politics or Against Politics?
A widespread belief is that the political system must be responsive to voters’ demands. But this is not obvious at all. Consider the following statement in the Wall Street Journal’s report on the adoption of a gun control bill by Congress (“House Expected to Approve Landmark Gun Legislation,” June 24, 2022): The House was expected .. MORE
Business Economics
Shareholders´ Activism: The impact of Blockchain in Corporate Governance
Corporate law as a subject has significantly changed in recent years. These changes have led to an exhaustive review of the systems, procedures, and standards of corporate stability, governance, control, and democracy as elements of analysis and starting points for generating modern responses to the various challenges and economic risks faced by companies in the .. MORE
Economics of Health Care
Where Has Michael Drake Been for the Last 50 Years
University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., issued a statement yesterday on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. He starts as follows: For nearly 50 years, people in the United States have had the right to make private, informed choices about their health care and their futures. .. MORE
Tax Reform
End the Tax on Phantom Gains
Imagine that in January 2021 you bought 100 shares of a company at $100 per share. Since then, the consumer price index, one of the standard measures of inflation, has risen by 11.74 percent. Coincidentally, the stock price has kept pace with the inflation rate, rising from $100 to $111.74. Your shares are now worth .. MORE
Macroeconomics
To succeed, one must recognize success
In the late 2010s, I frequently had to deal with commenters who complained about Fed policy. They echoed President Trump’s complaints that the Fed was holding back the economy. Inflation was slightly too low. They felt there was unused potential. They had all sorts of grand ideas for reforming Fed policy. Let’s review the data: .. MORE
Regulation and Subsidies
The Supply-Side Headwinds that Could Cause a Recession
Most discussion about the possibility of recession focuses on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies. But there are also factors on the supply side of the economy that may tip the U.S. economy into a recession. Among them are the tax and regulatory policies of the Biden administration. This is the opening paragraph of David R. .. MORE
Austrian Economics
Marxists vs. Austrians on Imperialism
I recently reviewed Janek Wasserman’s book The Marginal Revolutionaries: How Austrian Economists Fought the War of Ideas for EH.net, the website of the Economic History Association. I enjoyed the book, which offers a very engaging history of the Austrian school of economics. One thing I appreciated about Wasserman’s book was his description of the contentious .. MORE
Price Controls
Killing a 5th, and Big, Bird
Co-blogger Scott Sumner has written an excellent post on how a temporary cut in the federal gasoline tax (from its current 18.4 cents to gallon to zero) will cause the 4 effects he mentions. I think Scott leaves out a 5th effect that swamps his 4: it will increase Americans’ demand for price controls on .. MORE
Political Economy
Slippery Slopes Exist: The Case of No-Fly Lists
I don’t know wherefrom the strange idea comes that a slippery-slope argument is a kind of logical fallacy. It is an institutional or political-economy concept, not a logical one. Slippery slopes occurs in social affairs, and a contribution of economics is precisely to help determine when the logic of institutions—that is, of individual incentives under .. MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
What do YOU do on Windfall Day?
Rachel Swirsky concludes the author’s note to her new speculative fiction novella, January Fifteenth, with these observations. Money can make life easier, but it can’t solve everything. Adding money to a system with underlying problems won’t fix those problems on its own. After any massive change, some people will be better off, some people will .. MORE
Taxation
Killing 4 birds with one stone
Suppose that you wish to achieve the following 4 objectives: 1. Helping Vladimir Putin win the war in Ukraine. 2. Worsening global warming. 3. Worsening the budget deficit. 4. Enriching oil refiners at a time when supply is constrained and they are already earning extraordinary profits. What is the most effective way of doing all .. MORE