The distribution (in millions) of the Indian (and Chinese) diaspora across the world (via @TheEconomist) http://t.co/IXtLnZIYqL—
India in Pictures (@indiainpix) July 29, 2014
Where are the Chinese and Indian diasporas?
08 Apr 2015 1 Comment
in politics - USA, population economics Tags: China, economics of immigration, India
More evidence of mass kidnapping of environmental activists
08 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in environmental economics, environmentalism, international economic law, international economics, International law, law and economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: green hypocrisy, ozone layer
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Why aren’t they in the streets celebrating the recovery of the ozone layer, pursuant to an international treaty negotiated by the Reagan administration that banned CFCs as soon as they were not required any longer in developed countries:
International efforts to control the gases, particularly among developed countries, began to occur in the mid-1980s as new information appeared that strengthened the link between CFCs and the deterioration of stratospheric ozone. This increased the expected benefits of international action.
At the same time, domestic political opposition began to diminish when Du Pont announced they would no longer make CFCs. A reason for Du Pont’s attitude change was that European firms had increased their share of the CFC market, and in response Du Pont had developed CFC substitutes.
Accordingly, since international controls on CFCs provided them a competitive advantage, Du Pont announced that they would no longer make CFCs and the company lobbied the U.S. Congress for international regulation.
Under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, world leaders agreed to phase out CFCs, and eventually the hole in the ozone layer stopped expanding. In 2014, a UN assessment found that the ozone layer is just now starting to heal — and should be back to its 1980 levels by 2050 or so.
Crowdsourcing air hijacking prevention in 1968
07 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA, transport economics Tags: air piracy, Cuba, hijacking
Airline hijackings were so common in the late 60s that every passenger aircraft included in its standard kit the landing instructions for the Havana airport. Many of hijackings were simply to get to Havana with not much more of a political agenda. Many hijackers were common criminals fleeing justice.
Anti-hijacking ideas from the American public, 1968. Number 4 is my favorite, but I guess we went with Number 6. http://t.co/yNqm2qdGA8—
Brendan I. Koerner (@brendankoerner) June 17, 2014
America entered World War I, this day in 1917
07 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, war and peace Tags: World War I
Americans enter World War I on this day in 1917. timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1… http://t.co/CDoFZMzJUw—
NYT Archives (@NYTArchives) April 06, 2015
Immigration to the USA since 1820
06 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA Tags: economics of immigration
The origin of immigrants to the US since 1820
Source: bit.ly/1xjTubs http://t.co/km98cdAvTO—
Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) March 19, 2015
Recent New Zealand economic growth
06 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic growth, fiscal policy, global financial crisis (GFC), macroeconomics, politics - USA Tags: GFC, great recession, recessions and recoveries
This year’s GOP presidential field is crowded at the top, unlike past years
04 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election
This year's GOP presidential field is crowded at the top, unlike past years pewrsr.ch/1P3awQw http://t.co/tv3Ak5R2lD—
Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) April 02, 2015
Why Did Wal-Mart Raise Its Wages?
03 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, minimum wage, politics - USA, survivor principle Tags: Paul Krugman, supply and demand, Walmart
Why Did Walmart Raise Its Wages?
forbes.com/sites/realspin… http://t.co/0LRQQcKGKm—
Benn Steil (@BennSteil) April 02, 2015
The retail sector quits rate, the number of people quitting jobs as a per cent of total employment, is also considerably higher than the quits rate in the private sector broadly: 2.9% versus 2.2%.
Not surprisingly, Gap and Ikea have made wage-hike announcements similar to Wal-Mart’s. Retailers are clearly having more and more trouble finding and keeping workers at the federal minimum wage.
In short, Krugman’s story of Wal-Mart raising wages in response to political pressure simply flies in the face of the evidence. Wal-Mart is just being Wal-Mart: making a rational decision to lure and retain workers in a tightening retail labour market through greater compensation.
The problem with ignoring this evidence is that it encourages the notion that we can make wages, in Krugman’s words, “a political choice,” with no concern for its effect on employment.
Bryan Caplan on being down and out in America
02 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality
Via Are We Stuck With the Great Society?, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty.
Who has the smallest Anglo-Saxon welfare state of them all?
02 Apr 2015 1 Comment
in income redistribution, labour economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, welfare reform Tags: social insurance, social safety nets, welfare reform, welfare state
I have reanalysed data published by the Peterson Institute on the true levels of social expenditure across the industrialised countries for the Anglo-Saxon countries.
Figure 1: gross public social expenditures in OECD countries, 2011
Source: POLICY BRIEF 15-4: The True Levels of Government and Social Expenditures in Advanced Economies.
When you just look at gross public social expenditure, New Zealand is in the middle of the pack with the United Kingdom having the largest spending. There are not particularly large differences across social spending in the Anglo-Saxon welfare states.
Figure 2: Gross public social expenditure and the effects of taxation in OECD countries, 2011
Source: POLICY BRIEF 15-4: The True Levels of Government and Social Expenditures in Advanced Economies.
There is not much change when you include the effects of taxation on consumption by benefit recipients.
Figure 3: Net after-tax public and private social expenditure in OECD countries, 2011
Source: POLICY BRIEF 15-4: The True Levels of Government and Social Expenditures in Advanced Economies.
When private mandatory social spending is included, such as employer sponsored health cover, there is considerable change with United States leaping to the front and New Zealand dropping to the bottom. The USA has the largest and most expensive is health sector in the world so they are leaping of the front, either because healthcare is expensive in United States or people in the United States are not constrained by government rationing to spend less than they would prefer on their own healthcare. Let’s leave that war of ideas for another day.
Figure 4: Net after-tax total social expenditures in OECD countries, 2011
Source: POLICY BRIEF 15-4: The True Levels of Government and Social Expenditures in Advanced Economies.
On the face of it, New Zealand has the smallest Anglo-Saxon welfare state while the United States has the largest. A more accurate measure of the relative sizes of these Anglo-Saxon welfare states would require the wisdom of Solomon in measuring waste and underfunding in the respective systems and more trust than you should have in services sector in purchasing power parity adjustments.
For those that are interested, the OECD-wide gross social spending and net after-tax total social spending are reproduced below in figures 5 and 6.
Figure 5: Net after-tax total social expenditures in OECD countries, 2011
Source: POLICY BRIEF 15-4: The True Levels of Government and Social Expenditures in Advanced Economies.
The Figure 5 data on the OECD wide welfare state sizes shows that when you add private spending, including social spending mandated by law, the US has the second largest OECD social safety net as Kirkegaard said in his Peterson Institute paper:
Taking the full effects of tax systems and social spending from both private and public sources into account, the United States is seen to be devoting more resources toward social purposes than is generally acknowledged. In fact, only the French spend more than Americans, while the alleged welfare-addicted Scandinavians and Europeans spend less on average.
Figure 6: Gross public social expenditures in OECD countries, 2011
Source: POLICY BRIEF 15-4: The True Levels of Government and Social Expenditures in Advanced Economies.
Via The US welfare state and safety net are bigger than you think. But who are they helping? – AEI | Pethokoukis Blog » AEIdeas and POLICY BRIEF 15-4: The True Levels of Government and Social Expenditures in Advanced Economies
Putting U.S. Labor Force Participation in Context
02 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in gender, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA Tags: cross-country comparisons, female labour force participation, labour force participation, male labour force dissipation
Rand Paul on marijuana decriminalisation by target audience
01 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election, Rand Paul
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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