Russell Roberts's Blog, page 1575
March 23, 2010
Youa Culpa
Allan Greenspan explains why he had nothing to do with the collapse of the housing market and the financial sector. Greg Mankiw likes it, mostly. Robert Samuelson doesn't.
George Will on Politics
George Will at his finest:
Politics in a democracy is transactional: Politicians seek votes by promising to do things for voters, who seek promises in exchange for their votes. Because logrolling is how legislative coalitions are cobbled together in a continental nation, the auction by which reluctant House Democrats were purchased has been disillusioning only to sentimentalists with illusions about society's stock of disinterestedness.
Besides, some of the transactions [that created...
Up In the Air
If the letter, below, in USA Today is any evidence, this retired pilot for Continental Airlines has a better intuitive grasp of the economic way of thinking than does, alas, the typical PhD economist. Cap't. Green correctly predicts that the so-called "Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights" will raise the cost of flying – both directly in the form of higher air fares and indirectly in the form of fewer flights and more flight cancellations and delays.
Such legislation is a classic example of...
March 22, 2010
Consumers, Producers, and Trade
A few minutes ago at GMU's Arlington campus, I was chatting with a law student in the elevator. This student politely informed me that he's skeptical of my "full-bore" (his term) free-trade position. We didn't have a lot of time to talk (the building is only four stories tall), but his concern about economists' case for free trade springs from the fact that we economists focus only on the consumer and ignore the producer.
Well, yes and no. No advocate of free trade denies that production...
Juvenile Offenders: Benefactors of Society
My former GMU student Zenon Zygmont — now teaching in Oregon — sends along this example of the make-work bias: two juvenile-corrections facilities have fewer juveniles than were expected in for correction – or as the reporter rather drolly puts it, "Student enrollment at the facilities is less than anticipated."
Good news, right?
Not so fast. Lower "enrollment" means lower need for teachers in these facilities. And that, according to Rick Hanson, the "administrator in charge of the education ...
Let's be honest
Methinks1776, a valued commenter here at the Cafe points out the 2/3 of the American people opposed the health care legislation. That's not surprising. Part of this bill will make health care cheaper for the other 1/3 (or maybe 1/6th, paid for by the rest of us.
I like my health care a lot. I get to choose my doctor and my out of pocket is low. My health care is subsidized by other people–much of my insurance is paid for by George Mason, compensation I receive tax free. This is a bad idea...
A few thoughts on the health care legislation
I'm surprised it passed. I presume some of the people who were crucial for passage will not be re-elected. It will be interesting to see. Either way, this was costly for some of them and I'd like to understand how their arms were twisted. Maybe I need to reassess my view of politicians.
I'm sorry it passed, but there are many consolations. The current system of health care—a mish-mash of top-down regulation and private attempts to respond to it—is bankrupt, both intellectually and...
Peering Into Our Future?
Mathieu Bédard, who often comments here at the Cafe, sent the following e-mail to his American friends. I post it, and the accompanying photographs, here with Mathieu's gracious permission.
……
Dear American friends,
I really hate to rub it in, but a man forewarned is a man forearmed.
As some of you know, I've been living in France for almost 7 years now. I am pretty much blessed with a good condition, so I never had to deal much with the French healthcare system until my son, Arthur, was born...
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