Macroeconomics

May 30, 2014
What's Communicated by a College Degree?
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 30, 2014
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What Signals Does a College Degree Really Send?

Some economists have an unexpected reason for the college earnings premium. First, the premium… In 2011, a diploma from a 4-year college meant you would earn 83% more than your […]

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May 28, 2014
Beeps like backup warnings from trucks create noise pollution negative externalities.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 28, 2014
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The Beeps in Our Lives

Our Wednesday Environment Focus We have intentionally created some of the sounds that our technology makes. Take the beep… You know that beep..beep..beep sound of a truck […]

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May 27, 2014
In the major sports leagues and for golf, there is a top 1% and income inequality that can be measured with Gini Coefficients.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 27, 2014
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The Income Inequality That Doesn't Bother Us

When people talk about the top 1%, they are probably not thinking about NY Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter or Seattle’s MLS forward, Clint Dempsey. For 2014, Jeter signed a […]

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May 25, 2014
Weekly Economic News Roundup and Medicare worries
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 25, 2014
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When Does it Cost Too Much to Save a Human Life?

Is $1 a day for someone else’s pill too much to pay with your tax dollars? $10? $100? $1,000? Kaiser Health News recently reported that a new treatment for […]

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May 21, 2014
Cost and benefit balance change for dealing with global warming if it creates a national security threat.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 21, 2014
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An Unexpected Cost of Climate Change?

Our Wednesday Environment Focus By Madeleine Vance, guest blogger and student at Kent Place School; edited by Elaine Schwartz Global Warming has become more than just a […]

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May 20, 2014
Technological innovation might have slowed but we could be due for a spurt.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 20, 2014
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Production Possibility Frontiers: Entering (and Exiting) a Discovery Void

After technological innovation multiplies, might the pace of discovery slow down? Think of the history of antibiotics. Starting with the Sulfa drugs that were first discovered during […]

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May 19, 2014
Limited by men who want to take control female power, past and present female literacy is among the major gender issues.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 19, 2014
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Gender Issues: Literate Women

For millennia, men have tried to stop women from learning to read. Before we look back, I wanted to share these World Bank maps that let us see the […]

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May 15, 2014
Experience of a babysitting co-op with scrip provides a monetary policy lesson and a debate
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 15, 2014
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The Monetary Policy Mistakes of a Babysitting Co-op

There once was a French economist whose name was Say. Proclaiming that “Supply Creates Its Own Demand,” Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) entered economic history with Say’s Law. All he meant was that workers […]

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May 14, 2014
The externalities created by attempts at energy efficiency can be positive or negative.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 14, 2014
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Energy Efficiency Surprises

Our Wednesday Environmental Issue: Trying to optimize energy efficiency, we might have unexpected results. First, where we live… Referring to an environmentally friendly community where he once lived, New Yorker writer […]

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May 6, 2014
Gary Becker opened a new world when he used economics to study human behavior
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 6, 2014
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The Rotten Kid Theorem and Other Gary Becker Ideas

Gary Becker image courtesy of University of Chicago. All too often, if you say you are looking at the economics of the family, people assume you […]

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May 4, 2014
Disposable Income can be hand-to-mouth for households with illiquid wealth
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 4, 2014
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Surprising Hand-To-Mouth Households

Close to one third of all households (38 million) in the US live hand-to-mouth. Like me, perhaps you have always assumed that a hand-to-mouth (HtM) household […]

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May 1, 2014
Resource allocation involves similar concepts whether personal, for business or a country.
Published by Elaine Schwartz at May 1, 2014
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How To Divide the Rent, a Cake and a Country

Assume for a moment that you have just rented a 4th floor walk-up apartment for $3000 with 2 friends. One bedroom is mid-sized and near a […]

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