Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in economics
Literature on various types of money points how tobacco/cigarettes are used as currency especially in war camps and prisons.
Cigarettes are now being replaced by Ramen noodles in prisons as the most precious commodity (HT: MR blog):
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26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in economics
In The Closing of the Liberal Mind: How Groupthink and Intolerance Define the Left, Kim Holmes addresses the “paranoid style of American politics” as described by political scientist Richard Hofstadter in the 1960s.
Liberal populists, … are big believers in conspiracy theories. Hillary Clinton once spoke of a “vast right-wing conspiracy” against her and her husband, and she is not alone in her paranoia. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (whose financial disclosure reports showed her to be worth about $8 million in early 2015) believes businessmen, bankers, and the rich are irredeemably selfish and make decisions solely for their own benefit which hurts the poor. To many progressive liberals, opponents of same-sex marriage are not honest people guided by conscience, but malicious bigots out to do harm. American history is not a complex unfolding of events but a cynical conspiracy driven by rich white people whose only interest is…
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26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in economics
A short time ago, a press release from the Productivity Commission dropped into my in-box, announcing the release this morning of the Commission’s draft report on better urban planning. The Government asked the Commission to take a first principles, or “blue skies” approach to the issue.
I’ve been increasingly skeptical of the work of the Productivity Commission. They often provide some interesting background analysis and research, and yet they increasingly seem to be well described by the old line “when your only tool is a hammer, it is tempting to see every problem as a nail”. The Productivity Commission is mostly made-up of, and run by, (able) long-term public servants. Public servants design and help implement the instrument of state – government attempts to remedy problems, typically with government-based tools. There is a self-selection bias problem – people who are inclined believe in the importance/viability of government solutions are more…
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26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in international economics Tags: free trade
Poor consumers spend relatively more on sectors that are more traded, while high-income individuals consume relatively more services, which are among the least traded sectors.
Source: Pro-poor bias of trade: New research on the expenditure channel | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal.
26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in economics
Readers:
Here is another infographic from one of my favorite illustrators, Richard Johnson (photo, right). If you search on his name on my blog site, you will see several different examples of his work I have highlighted before.
Enjoy!
Michael
26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in economics
While economists are famous for their disagreements (and their incompetent forecasts), there is universal consensus in the profession that demand curves slope downward. That may be meaningless jargon to non-economists, 
but it simply means that people buy less of something when it becomes more expensive.
And this is why it makes no sense to impose minimum wage requirements, or to increase mandated wages where such laws already exist.
If you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible unemployment, of course, which means it’s a very bad idea.
So why, then, is it okay to throw a “modest” number of people into the unemployment line with a “small” increase in the minimum wage?
Yet some politicians can’t resist pushing such policies because it makes them seem like Santa Claus to low-information voters…
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26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history Tags: France, Paris, World War II
26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in economics, transport economics Tags: Concorde
26 Aug 2016 2 Comments
in applied welfare economics, economic history, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality Tags: homelessness, neoliberalism, social insurance, vast right-wing conspiracy, welfare state
People living rough doubled under Labour! Fell under the National Party led government despite the global financial crisis and the return of neoliberal oppression.
Source: 24 August 2016, Most homeless people working or studying, News, University of Otago, New Zealand, table 4.
26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in economics, politics - New Zealand, technological progress, transport economics Tags: drones
25 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture Tags: John Cleese
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