Macroeconomic Measurement

January 11, 2014

Happy Birthday to a Great Father (of our economy)

When you sing happy birthday to Alexander Hamilton today, please just think of an upward sloping (logarithmic) economic growth line:   Today, 257–or maybe 259–years ago […]

January 4, 2014

Do You Live in a Popular State?

Listening to Bloomberg news the other morning, I heard that Atlas Van Lines just came out with their annual migration study. The radio report said New […]

January 3, 2014

Income Inequality Questions

Seeing economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty’s favorite graph of the year at Ezra Klein’s Wonkblog, I thought of Benoit Mandelbrot. The father of fractal geometry, Dr. […]

November 27, 2011

Happy Pecan Farmers

With soaring demand from China and less supply in the U.S., you have some very happy pecan farmers. However, they have one big problem. Theft. Armed […]

November 24, 2011

A Plymouth Plantation Reprise

Perhaps even more relevant today, this was our blog for last Thanksgiving: In 1623, two years after the first Thanksgiving, Governor William Bradford was worried about […]

November 23, 2011

College Matters

Assume you are an 18 year-old high school graduate with $102,000 to use for a lifelong investment. These are your choices: triple-A rated bonds housing common […]

November 21, 2011

If You Were the Supercommittee…

This simulation from Pew is a great way to understand what the supercommittee is trying to do. Called “the Pew Budget Challenge,” it presents close to […]

November 20, 2011

California and Kentucky

Could we compare California’s relationship with Kentucky to Germany and Greece? Somewhat like Germany and Greece… California and Kentucky share the same currency. California has a […]

November 19, 2011

Stagnation or Education?

Is the problem stagnation or education? For George Mason economist Tyler Cowen, it was all about his grandmother. Debating MIT economist Erik Brynjolfsson, Cowen reminded us […]

November 18, 2011

Health Insurance Dilemmas

Assume for a moment that you are slim, love broccoli and run 4 miles each day. Should your health insurance premium be lower than the amount […]

November 17, 2011

Ben Franklin’s Turkey

The bald eagle is our national bird but, according to Ben Franklin, the turkey should have been. In a letter to his daughter, he explains why. […]