Economic Growth

September 16, 2015
Published by Elaine Schwartz at September 16, 2015
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Bringing The Martian Down to Earth

For pure enjoyment The Martian is a good read but also it helps us recognize how travel to Mars has and will have positive externalities on earth.

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September 14, 2015
Published by Elaine Schwartz at September 14, 2015
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Part 2: How the Middle Income Trap Could Catch China

While some high middle income economies have slowed down and then accelerated again, using World Bank criteria, China's economic growth is tough to predict.

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September 13, 2015
Published by Elaine Schwartz at September 13, 2015
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Part 1: The Trap That China Wants to Avoid

Currently slowing down, China's economic growth might be challenged by the middle income trap that has caught Brazil but not Taiwan or Malaysia.

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September 1, 2015
Published by Elaine Schwartz at September 1, 2015
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What Our Food Says About Us

Because middling food like hamburgers is consumed by most people in the affluent West, what we eat does not necessarily reflect inequality or social status.

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August 24, 2015
CEO performance and golf
Published by Elaine Schwartz at August 24, 2015
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How Your Lawn is About More Than Grass

Nothing but grass, lawns began as conspicuous consumption from the English and French aristocracy and now are a middle class manicured status symbol.

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August 12, 2015
Weekly Economic New Roundup and tall building construction
Published by Elaine Schwartz at August 12, 2015
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How to Deal With Skyscraper Shadows

Whenever a new skyscraper is built, we can ask whether its shadow violates our property rights when it eliminates the sunlight in a city's parks.

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August 2, 2015
Sanitation gap and human capital
Published by Elaine Schwartz at August 2, 2015
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The World’s Sanitation Gap

A production possibilities graph can display the land, labor and capital underutilization that inadequate sanitation creates and indicate a constrained GDP.

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July 17, 2015
As an innovation the bicycle has had many positive externalities.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at July 17, 2015
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The Wright Moment for the Bicycle

As an innovation, the bicycle was a stepping stone that helped human capital move onward to other inventions like the airplane, the auto and better roads.

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July 7, 2015
everyday economics and a good type of taxation, property taxes have incentives that do not constrain growth.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at July 7, 2015
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The Tax We Should Like

Among the least popular forms of taxation, property taxes are the most desirable because of their incentives, whom they target and their resilience.

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June 22, 2015
everyday economics and safety regulation
Published by Elaine Schwartz at June 22, 2015
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An Unintended Consequence of Football Helmets

Regulation can have unintended consequences. With football helmets or seat belts or even financial regulation, protection can create more reckless behavior.

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June 1, 2015
height bias
Published by Elaine Schwartz at June 1, 2015
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India’s Height Mystery

Long assumed to have a direct relationship, the connection between height and GDP becomes more complex when we compare India and Africa.

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