Labor

August 12, 2014

What Refrigerators Can Tell Us About Global Markets

In refrigerators in developing nations, we can see the impact of affluence on their diet and on supply and demand that will change worldwide food prices.

August 11, 2014

Will You Get Your Social Security Benefits?

The 2014 Social Security Trustees Report says that after we deplete the remains of the program's trust funds in 2033, payroll taxes will not provide all promised benefits.

August 4, 2014

The Spillover from Refrigerators in China

The spread of refrigeration in China has positive and negative externalities that relate to household diets, greenhouse gases and transport and home waste.

July 28, 2014

Why the GDP is Much More Than a Number

Seemingly just a statistic, how we calculate the GDP and how it is used can be controversial and affect the lives of millions of people.

July 27, 2014

Three "Tear-Water" Graphs

The U.S. has had an economic recovery from the Great Recession with sluggish GDP growth, a worrisome output gap and slowly diminishing unemployment.

July 17, 2014

John Stuart Mill on Affordable Health Care

A child prodigy, 19th century economist John Stuart Mill said in his Autobiography that, “I have no remembrance of the time when I began Greek; I […]

July 16, 2014

John Maynard Keynes and the Generational Impact of Entitlements

Before seeing how we are benefiting unequally from entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, let’s start with some history. During 1934, with unemployment high and production low, […]

July 14, 2014

Adam Smith and Traffic Lights

Located 30 miles from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the island of Nantucket has no traffic lights. Instead, drivers respond to stop signs, rotaries, and courtesy. More often […]

July 13, 2014

Chart of the Week: To Which Job Will Your College Major Take You?

Our Sunday chart of the week Just some human capital facts today… Showing the proportion of people from a college major that go to a certain […]

July 7, 2014

The Difference Between India's Stories and Statistics

There is a village in Southern India called Kadapakkam. It had been a home to farmers and fishermen whose thatched huts had no running water and no electrical appliances. At traditional tea shops […]

July 4, 2014

Celebrating Economic Independence

Yes, the United States declared independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776 and won the American Revolutionary War. But still, we were not truly independent. George Washington’s Secretary of […]