Salads poison more Americans than hamburgers. vox.com/2015/6/11/8766… http://t.co/XlsFbp5g16—
C. S. Prakash (@AgBioWorld) June 14, 2015
Salads poison more Americans than hamburgers
15 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
Middle class stagnation versus food poverty
15 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, population economics, poverty and inequality, technological progress Tags: good old days, middle class stagnation, The Great Enrichment, wage stagnation
CHART: As a share of income, spending on food has gone from 25% in 1930s to < 10% in 2013. http://t.co/pxRgf6tNOZ—
Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) May 14, 2015
@phattonez Note that almost 50% of food expenditures are for now food away from home. http://t.co/zWAu0Zlw82—
Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) May 18, 2015
Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by gender, Anglo-Saxon countries
15 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in health economics, labour economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, population economics Tags: ageing society, healthy life expectancy, life expectancy, The Great Escape
Figure 1: life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of women, Anglo-Saxon countries, 2010
Source: OECD family database.
Figure 2: life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of men, Anglo-Saxon countries, 2010
Source: OECD family database
The reverse gender tertiary education gap for ages 25–34, Anglo-Saxon countries
14 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, College premium, education premium, gender wage gap, Ireland
Figure 1: % population who have attained at least tertiary education, age 25 – 34 by gender (2012)
Source: OECD family database.
Figure 2 shows that the stark reversing of the gender gap in educational attainment shown in figure 1 was somewhat more recent in the US, UK and to a lesser extent in Ireland and Australia. In the UK and USA, educational attainment by gender was pretty equal for the earlier generation of graduates as compared to today’s 25 to 34-year-olds. The reversing of the gender gap in educational attainment dates back several decades in Canada and New Zealand.
Figure 2: % population who have attained at least tertiary education, age 45 – 54 by gender (2012)
Source: OECD family database.
The average American woman now weighs as much as the average 1960s man
14 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: economics of physiology, family poverty, obesity, The Great Escape
Another rather stunning illustration of the size of the graduate premium in the USA
14 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of education, human capital, labour economics, occupational choice, politics - USA Tags: College premium, education premium, graduate premium
More Liberals but not fewer Conservatives in the USA
14 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election, voter demographics
Heard that conservatives are disappearing? Don't believe it: 53eig.ht/1Qp1Vej http://t.co/MPIFSAFeOs—
(@FiveThirtyEight) June 10, 2015
Gender wage gaps for tertiary educated and high school educated full-time workers in Anglo-Saxon countries
13 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: asymmetric marriage premium, Australia, British economy, Canada, gender wage gap, Ireland, labour demographics, maternal labour supply
In another blow for the inherent inequality of bargaining power between workers and employers, and for the patriarchy, the wage gap is larger for tertiary educated female full-time workers aged 35-44 than it is for female full-time workers who just finished high school.
Figure 1: gender wage gap for mean full-time, full-year earnings for tertiary educated workers aged 35 – 44, 2012
Source: OECD family database.
To add insult to injury, the gender wage gap further tertiary educated female workers is quite large in the USA but quite small for high school graduates.
Figure 2: gender wage gap for mean full-time, full-year earnings for below upper secondary educated workers aged 35 – 44, 2012
Source: OECD family database.
Canada seems to be a bit of a patriarchal hellhole while New Zealand does pretty well in gender wage gaps.
The gender gap in figure 1 and in figure 2 are unadjusted and calculated as the difference between mean average annual full-time, full-year earnings of men and of women as a percentage of men’s earnings.
Hostage Uses Pizza Hut App to Order a Police Rescue
13 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, entrepreneurial alertness
Hostage Uses Pizza Hut App to Order a Police Rescue popularmechanics.com/default/a15405… http://t.co/gxFq0zqBCn—
Popular Mechanics (@PopMech) June 10, 2015
Milton Friedman on the essence of the Age of the Worker
13 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic growth, economic history, health and safety, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Milton Friedman, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking, unions Tags: competition and monopoly, The Great Enrichment, union power, union wage premium
Union membership varies by a lot more than do wages between countries
13 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in labour economics, politics - Australia, politics - USA, unions Tags: trade union density, union power, union wage premium
Union membership
Finland 69%
Sweden 68
Canada 27
UK 26
Japan 19
Australia 19
Germany 18
US 11
Korea 10
Turkey 5 http://t.co/03cRHnbLlH—
Conrad Hackett (@conradhackett) March 28, 2015
What does America import and export?
13 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in international economics, politics - USA Tags: globalisation, international trade
As the House votes on trade, see last month's post on what the US actually imports and exports pewrsr.ch/1Jsonh0 http://t.co/B976iVeDjg—
PewResearch FactTank (@FactTank) June 12, 2015
What are the Anglo-Saxon gender wage gaps for the bottom, median and top deciles?
12 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, gender wage gap, Ireland
If there is an inherent inequality of bargaining power between workers and employers, as we are so frequently lectured by those in the self appointed know, why is the gender wage gap so small at the bottom of the earnings distribution?
Figure 1: % Gender gap in full-time earnings at the bottom decile of earnings distribution, 2012
Source: OECD family database
Figure 2: % Gender gap in full-time earnings at the median decile of earnings distribution, 2012
Source: OECD family database
Figure 3: % Gender gap in full-time earnings at the top decile of earnings distribution, 2012
Source: OECD family database
The gender gaps are unadjusted, and are calculated as the difference between the earnings of men and women for their respective earnings percentile.
Prison incarceration rates by race and education
12 Jun 2015 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - USA Tags: compensating differentials, crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order, racial discrimination, racism
Male African American high school dropouts facing a nearly 70% cumulative risk of imprisonment by their early 30s. However, the increase in incarceration rates among high school graduates appeared to be much the same for both blacks and whites.
This hints that racism is not as good explanatory of high rates of African-American male incarceration. Police do not know whether the people they arrest have high school diplomas or not but most of the people they arrest are high school dropouts. This suggests that the opportunity cost and rewards of crime over lawful occupational pursuits is a driver of the supply of crime.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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