Microeconomics

June 13, 2014

What Golf in China Shows About Economic Development

On a ladder of spending in developing economies, growing affluence first means wheat and meat. Then, climbing somewhat higher, people can afford consumer durables like a washing machine and […]

June 12, 2014

The Impact of World Cup Soccer On Stock Markets

“Amongst all unimportant subjects, football is by far the most  important.” Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) European Central Bank researchers have hypothesized that World Cup Soccer […]

June 11, 2014

Prius Purchases and Conspicuous Conservation

Our Wednesday Environment Focus Reporting that Prius was the top selling car in California, Bloomberg said the reason was tough emissions standards. I wonder… In a 2011 paper, […]

June 2, 2014

Gender Issues: The Invention of Wings

Our Monday gender issues focus Combine 1 great read, 2 crucial issues and 3 memorable women (2 who really existed) and you get The Invention of Wings by […]

May 31, 2014

An Amazing Story From a Graph

Sometimes one graph can tell a whole story:   A 4-minute animation can also convey a much bigger story. Looking at the same time period as our […]

May 30, 2014

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 […]

May 28, 2014

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 […]

May 27, 2014

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 […]

May 25, 2014

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 […]

May 21, 2014

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 […]

May 20, 2014

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 […]

May 19, 2014

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 […]