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HT: David-k-Levine
The real reason why behavioural economics is so popular among politicians and bureaucrats
03 Nov 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, behavioural economics, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: behavioural economics, do gooders, The fatal conceit, The pretence to knowledge
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HT: David-k-Levine
Private versus Public Nudging
03 Nov 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, behavioural economics Tags: behavioural economics, Nudging
Here is Mark Pennington in his second post as our guest-blogger this week.
“Private versus Public Nudging” by Mark Pennington
Last week I attended a speech by Richard Thaler, of ‘Nudge’ fame.
Professor Thaler is an engaging speaker. His assertion that ‘libertarian paternalism’ is merely an extension of methods widely adopted in daily life is a beguilingly simple, yet ultimately dangerous one. According to Thaler since good mothers constantly attempt to ‘nudge’ their offspring in the ‘right direction’ then we should not worry about governmental nudging. Whether it is ‘fat taxes’ to discourage unhealthy eating induced by ‘weakness of will’ or compulsory enrolment in savings schemes to induce less ‘short-sighted’ and more thrifty conduct, people should learn to love a government that coaxes them towards what they themselves would recognise is in their own best interests.
The classical liberal tradition is not, and never has been suspicious of the idea…
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Policy bubbles alert: Innovation is a market process of discovery, diffusion, learning by using, entrepreneurial experimentation and decentralised adaptation
31 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
Deirdre McCloskey on the point at which economic analysis can stop, and not before
31 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
Deirdre McCloskey on the fatal conceit
30 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, entrepreneurship, liberalism Tags: Deirdre McCloskey, The fatal conceit, The pretence to knowledge
HT: Cafe Hayek
Jack Hirshleifer summarises price theory
30 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory Tags: Jack Hirschleifer
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Optimization problems |
Equilibrium problems |
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1. Should I buy a new car or keep my old one a while longer? |
1. Are new car prices likely to be lower next year? |
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2. Will I be happier working, or should I drop out of the rat race and live on hand-outs? |
2. Would generous “welfare” benefits for the unemployed raise the unemployment rate? |
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3. Should I buy a condo or live in a rental apartment? |
3. What determines the ratio between the annual rental of an apartment and its purchase price as a condominium? |
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4. Should narcotics laws be made stricter or more lenient? |
4. If use of narcotics were decriminalized, would drug usage increase? |
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5. Should our union go on strike, or had we better accept management’s offer? |
5. Do strikes raise the wage of workers? |
Policy bubbles alert: most innovation is not about R&D (and boffins in lab coats)
29 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic growth, industrial organisation Tags: economic growth, innovation, R&D, The fatal conceit, The pretence to knowledge
Coalition Celebrating Equal Pay Case Outcome
29 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economics of regulation, gender, income redistribution, minimum wage, politics - New Zealand, rentseeking Tags: gender wage gap, living wage, minimum wage, pay equity
I wonder who will pay for this? Caregiver wages are funded out of a fixed budget allocated by the government.
A higher wage will change the type of worker that the caregiving sector will seek to recruit, as happened after increases in the teenage went minimum wage.
When the teenage minimum wage went up in New Zealand, employment of 17 and 18-year-olds fell, while the employment of 18 to 19-year-olds increased because the latter were more mature and reliable than the younger contemporaries.
Media release: Pay Equity Challenge Coalition
28 October 2014
Coalition Celebrating Equal Pay Case Outcome
“The Court of Appeal’s decision declining the employers’ appeal in the Kristine Bartlett case is a huge victory for women workers” said Pay Equity Coalition Challenge spokesperson Angela McLeod.
“The Courts’ decision that equal pay may be determined across industries in female-dominated occupations revitalises the Equal Pay Act 1972 and will be a major factor in closing New Zealand’s stubborn 14 percent gender pay gap”.
The judgement by the Court of Appeal upholding the Employment Court decision again validates the work of caregivers and that they are underpaid, she said.
“We commend the Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota in taking this case and exposing the underpayment and undervaluation of aged care workers. And the decision is a victory for all the women’s organisations who have never given up fighting for equal pay,”…
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Not too long ago, the left promoted the pointlessness of minimum wage – Whale Oil Beef Hooked
29 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economics of regulation, labour economics, Marxist economics, minimum wage Tags: minimum wage
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