Russell Roberts's Blog, page 1545

A Grove of Misconceptions

Here's a letter to Bloomberg:

Intel's legendary founder Andy Grove worries that America's economy isn't creating enough jobs ("How to Make an American Job Before It's Too Late," July 1).  His analysis, however, suffers from several flaws.  Perhaps the deepest of these is Mr. Grove's conclusion that, because the amount invested per worker today in U.S. high-tech industries is much higher than it was in the past, "the U.S. has become wildly inefficient at creating American tech jobs."

Mr. Grove...

Beautiful visual storytelling

This video beautifully portrays why Mariano Rivera is so successful (HT: Aaron Gleeman). The closing pictures are a magnificent visual representation of data and attest to Rivera's brilliance.

Sumner on "Gambling"

Scott Sumner does a very nice job summarizing and adding to my paper on the crisis.

All the news that's fit to print (plus some more)

June 28th headline in the New York Times:

In Ireland, a Picture of the High Cost of Austerity

June 30th headline in the New York Times (from the Associated Press):

Ireland's Economy Posts First Growth in Two Years

In the first story, which appeared on page A1, the reporter does some great editorializing in a front page "news" story:

As Europe's major economies focus on belt-tightening, they are following the path of Ireland. But the once thriving nation is struggling, with no sign of a rapid...

Legislators' Ignorance of the Legislation is No Excuse

Can anyone offer even one potentially sound reason why this proposal, appearing in the following letter from today's Wall Street Journal, ought not be adopted?

Daniel Henninger's "A Plague of Vagueness" (Wonder Land, July 1) is wonderful. It is highly likely that no member of Congress has yet completely read any of the recent 2000-page bills that are fundamentally reshaping our economy and the role of government in our society. It is near certain that not a single legislator read these bills...

Kling on the weird world of banking

The latest EconTalk is Arnold Kling talking about the hidden subsidies built into the banking system and how mortgages and the housing market would change if banks were less controlled by government policy. It's a very nice conversation on the microeconomics of banking.

"And then He said, 'Let there be Higher Wages'"

Here's a letter to the Los Angeles Times:

Searching for policies to "create the good jobs our economy needs," UC Berkeley Law Dean Christopher Edley, Jr. advises Pres. Obama to stop federal-government contracts from being awarded "to companies that create poverty-wage jobs" ("The economic power of Obama's pen," July 6).  The idea is that firms seeking Uncle Sam's business will then raise the wages they pay to their low-skilled workers.

If Mr. Obama follows Dean Edley's advice, low-skilled...

Hmmmm……

From The Economist.

A key passage:

But they [the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency:] did find a number of things to take issue with [in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:], most of which they thought minor but eight of which they classed as major; and their work seems to bring out a systemic tendency to stress negative effects over positive ones.

Many and Vague

Here's a letter to USA Today:

Sandra Day O'Connor and George Nethercutt are correct that too many Americans lack sufficient understanding and appreciation of U.S. history and of the meaning of this nation's founding documents ("Celebrate America by learning about her," July 3).  In no group of Americans does this ignorance run more deeply and malignantly than it does for those in Congress and in the White House.

Aimed at ensuring that there would be no misunderstanding, the Tenth amendment...

Some Links

Steve Landsburg rightly celebrates David Friedman's great – truly great – book, The Machinery of Freedom.

Bob Higgs instructs us on one of the keystones of economics as well as of reality: trade-offs.

Clay Broga offers yet another effective short video – this one on government debt, economic growth, and job creation.

Carpe Diem's Mark Perry offers yet further empirical evidence that "just being alive today in America, you've already 'won the lottery of life.'"

Mario Rizzo highlights and...