Economic History

March 27, 2015

The Dangerous Side of Economics

Because he revised his country's inaccurate deficit and received Eurostat approval, Greece's chief statistician might be prosecuted for "breach of faith."

March 19, 2015

Six Ways to Make Government Better

One of many examples in Peter Schuck's new book, the Social Security program shows how government can be successful and also why it "fails so often."

March 16, 2015

The Problem With Hitting the Debt Ceiling Again

With the U.S. hitting a debt ceiling that is equal to the GDP, concern over U.S. spending is growing as the Congress again decides how to avoid a default.

February 26, 2015

Tradeoffs and Marriage: Like a Horse and Carriage

As the pill, education and employment opportunities changed the value of women as wives, the tradeoffs that relate to being married have also changed.

February 24, 2015

The Vaccine Benefits That No One Talks About

With better school attendance and learning, and then higher work productivity, the positive externalities of childhood vaccination have an economic impact.

February 20, 2015

Part 2: What To Do When More People Are Old

Facing an aging population and more entitlements, countries that are encouraging more births to expand the labor force might be creating a bigger problem.

February 19, 2015

Part 1: What To Do When More People Are Old

As population shifts, developed nations will have redistribution decisions as the proportion of the non-working aged and the young need more labor income.

February 13, 2015

Pondering the Bunker Hill Theory of Inflation

As the source of monetary policy, the Federal Reserve has to decide if interest rates should rise when inflation is low but a jobs recovery has begun.

February 12, 2015

Three Big Questions About the GDP

GDP problems include that it's not calculated the same way in different countries, its data can be tough to gather, and its components omit important items.

February 9, 2015

One Reason We Can’t Believe in Innate Talent

Limiting potential economic growth, the myth of innate talent in disciplines like philosophy diminishes the pool of female and Afro-American human capital.

January 21, 2015

Can Economists See the Hot Hand?

With implications that extend beyond sports, believers in classical economics and in behavioral economics are debating whether players can have streaks.

January 9, 2015

How Men Act When They Outnumber Women

How gender ratios in the U.S. and China affect men's financial behavior can be explained with supply and demand and behavioral economics from Gary Becker.