Macroeconomics

December 13, 2015

What We Are Willing to Do For Money

Monetary incentives can influence a decision and distort the information we access for our cost and benefit research.

December 9, 2015

Four Charts That Show Why We Should Go to College

With higher college tuition and less wage growth for college grads, still, the college wage premium and its opportunity cost make college worth it.

December 7, 2015

Debating the Size of the Social Safety Net

If Finland replaces benefits with a monthly check, the tradeoffs for its safety net programs will be domestic and international.

November 30, 2015

Marriage Markets in China and India

With son preference, limited fertility and social norms, China's and India's sex ratios at birth have created a male glut and new marriage markets.

November 19, 2015

The Cost of Garbage

With landfills, recycling and composting the alternatives, garbage incineration that generates electricity has become increasingly popular.

November 18, 2015

Why Shades of Gray Might Lead to Better Research

Through his Reproducibility Project, Brian Nosek shows that scientific accuracy can be assessed through replication of results and prediction markets.

November 13, 2015

The Problem With Bovine Burps

Reducing environmental externalities from greenhouse gas emissions involves the methane that cows and other ruminants burp.

November 5, 2015

Why It’s Tough to Place the Poverty Line

Whether calculating the poverty rate in Rwanda or in the U.S., the income and/or consumption variables you select determine your results.

November 2, 2015

Why China’s Two-Child Policy Might Not Work

Although China has said it will replace its one-child policy with a two child limit, small families remain a social norm that will be tough to change.

October 29, 2015

The Impact of a Legendary Economics Curve

Showing the connection between inflation and unemployment, the Phillips Curve has been re-interpreted, re-affirmed and condemned as a monetary policy tool.