It makes sense to assume that when the economy is better, we feel better, We should have less illness and live longer. Correspondingly, in a sick economy, we too feel sicker. Not necessarily. A Recess…
Macroeconomics
The study of how the economy behaves as a whole as well as economy-wide phenomena.
Remembering the 1987 Crash
On Black Monday, 30 years ago, the stock market plunged 508 points. At 22.6%, the dive was the worst ever in exchange history. Today, a 5,100 point drop in the Dow would have been an equivalent declin…
Deciding Who Is Middle Class and Who Is Rich
According to President Trump and most other politicians, tax reform will be “a middle class bill.” However, ask people what they mean by the middle class and it becomes a mystery. In one C…
Why China’s Scientists Got the Wrong Message
In 2016 it appeared that China had become a research powerhouse. In 2017 they discovered a problem. This is the story of how incentives can have unintended consequences. Chinese R&D In 2016, the n…
Puerto Rico’s Solar Power Alternative
This satellite picture shows how San Juan, Puerto Rico used to sparkle at night: But since Hurricane Maria, no more: Currently, 10% of the island has power. So there is little running water and few fl…
The Best Places to Grow Old
Looking at adequacy, sustainability, and integrity, we would see that the retirement income systems of 27 nations vary considerably.…
The Best Places For Paying Business Taxes
Talking about U.S. business tax reform, a PWC/World Bank Report shows us that there is so much more to consider than the 35% top rate. The Best Business Tax Places The Report did a country-to-country …
Why the Twitter Predictor Was About Much More Than the Dow
Although one seven year old study indicates that Twitter sentiment could predict the Dow, a research replication attempt says no.…
All You Never Knew About Denmark’s Fat Tax
At the end of 2011, Denmark got a fat tax. Today, they still cannot decide if it worked. The Skinny on Denmark’s Fat Tax Denmark’s lawmakers thought they had a “win-win” throug…
A Lesson From 1986
Yes. we all know that the Tax Reform Act of 1986 is the most recent example of comprehensive tax reform. And yes, it compressed 14 tax brackets into two (15%, 28%) with a third that has been called th…