Economic History

November 30, 2014

Three Graphs That Tell the Whole Oil Story

Following the law of supply, U.S. shale oil firms will lower output because OPEC is letting price plummet but airlines on demand side like lower prices.

November 27, 2014

A Bigger (Thanksgiving) Pie or Equal Slices?

Increasing income inequality by moving from communal farming to individual plots, Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford changed income redistribution.

November 25, 2014

What An Unemployment Rate Does Not Tell You

A single statistic like the unemployment rate for Japan, the European Union and the U.S. can be misleading until we look more closely at what it represents.

November 13, 2014

Should Water Be Free?

Although protestors in Detroit and Ireland say water is a human right, economists, citing a definition of a public good and a tornado alarm, would disagree.

November 12, 2014

Dodd-Frank: When Is A Law Too Long To Obey?

With debated impact, a little more than half of the thousands of rules necessary for implementing the financial regulation in Dodd-Frank have been written.

November 7, 2014

Four Ways to Understand Marijuana Demand

With an increasing number of states legalizing marijuana, demand is shifting because of changes in utility, complementary products and the number of buyers.

November 4, 2014

The Benefits of Perpetual Federal Debt

Very long term federal debt that has no date for redemption like UK First World War bonds and U.S. Revolutionary War debt depend on good public credit.

October 29, 2014

How Chinese Economic Growth Relates to Restaurants and Pilots

China might not fuel world economic growth if instead of a 7 percent real GDP growth rate forecast, we use a regression to the mean of 3.9 percent.

October 27, 2014

The Reason Norway Said No to the Olympics

Because host countries for the Olympics and World Cup spend too much on new stadiums, their subsequent return on investment (ROI) is usually inadequate.

October 26, 2014

An Economist’s Definition of Misery

While a misery index shows a nation's inflation and unemployment rates, the eurozone's high unemployment might create disproportionate unhappiness.

October 21, 2014

Why There is Less Marriage

New attitudes that value marriage less and new economics through which women have more pay and education and men work less have changed marriage markets.

October 16, 2014

The Best Places For Growing Old

With populations growing older in the developed world, their wellbeing might affect the GDP growth rate because of the expense of their care.