Subscribe to Excerpts
Subscribe by Email
I was William Vickrey’s colleague for three years in the early 1990s. Columbia University has created a webpage listing everything that was in his files and now is stored in boxes at its library. It appears to be an extraordinary set of files. It would be great if Columbia could use its $ to [...]
Archive for August, 2011
August 25th, 2011
Category: Uncategorized
This NY Times Room for Debate managed to exclude the economists from participating in a debate on the future of the EPA. When I skimmed the pieces, nobody mentioned the efficiency criteria. What are the benefits of EPA regulation? What are the costs of such regulation? One debater implictly assumed that current air pollution levels [...]
August 25th, 2011
Category: Elections 2010 and 2012, Feminism
Rick Perry, who has yet to win anything, is now crushing Bachmann in national polls, her hard-fought Iowa Straw Poll win notwithstanding. I wonder if it occurs to Representative Bachmann that Republican primary voters are simply living out the worldview which she herself promulgates: When a powerful man arrives, it is his rightful place to [...]
August 24th, 2011
Category: MSM (mainstream media)
Slate has apparently laid off several outstanding journalists, including Timothy Noah. One of the best journalists out there, Tim did a great job covering health care reform. His award-winning series on inequality provides only one reason to eagerly await his next gig.
August 24th, 2011
Category: Economics, Psychology
Right after New Year’s Day, I posted here about my inability to get rid of my old comic book collection. Actually, it’s not just comics, there are other curios such as this sketch on the left by Bob Brown, from a larger portfolio that used to come out annually in the early 1970s from the [...]
August 24th, 2011
Category: Uncategorized
Given that the academic year is about to start, permit me to supply you with a short course on what is new in agricultural economics. Consider reading this piece by NCSU’s Michael Roberts. You will see a touch of Malthus here as he analyzes food production in the face of climate change. While rising food prices [...]
August 24th, 2011
Category: Financial crises, Uncategorized
Why to be suspicious of CDS prices as indicators of sovereign bond risk.
August 23rd, 2011
Category: Spirituality and Religion
If scholars in several hundred years ever write the obituary of American Judaism, a key source document will surely be this piece from The Forward. Its title says it all: Rabbis Go Hollywood for High Holy Day Sermon Tips: Same Rules Apply to ‘Mad Men’ Episodes and Rosh Hashanah Talks. The piece concerns “the High [...]