Being water stressed means you are unusually vulnerable to a water shortage. Sort of like a household where one emergency can push it over the edge because it spends all it earns, so too with most water stressed nations. That one drought…
Regulatory Policy
One Reason That Quitting is Good
I have read that Fed Chair Janet Yellen is particularly interested in JOLTS. Representing Job Openings and Labor market Turnover Survey, JOLTS data tell an interesting story. You can see how the trend in job openings parallels the Great Recession…
Should Detroit Sell Its Art?
During 2009, a still life painted by Henri Matisse was sold at a Christie’s auction for $46 million. The Detroit Institute of Arts owns Poppies, also a Matisse oil on canvas but a bit larger. A municipal bankruptcy like Detroit’s creates…
The Big Impact of a Little Salamander
The woodland salamander made me think of Adam Smith. In North American forests, wherever it is dark and damp, under a rock or a log, a very hungry salamander could be devouring her daily diet. Eating 20 ants, 2 flies…
The Unintended Consequences of Banning Ivory Sales
New US ivory regulations have had unintended consequences. During November 2013, the US government “pulverized” nearly 6 tons of elephant ivory from Asia and Africa. Intending to send a message to elephant poachers, the Fish and Wildlife Service destroyed ivory that…
The One Big Reason We Can’t Really Cut the Federal Deficit
It is tough to be a deficit hawk. Rather than our typical spike in wartime spending, we have a peacetime deficit. (Please note that the federal deficit is just how much spending exceeds revenue during one year.): Spending for……
Venezuela Has Cheap Gas But No Cars
At the official exchange rate, Venezuelans pay 5 cents a gallon for premium gasoline while the real price is closer to one half penny a gallon. The dark purple country at the northern tip of South America (below), Venezuela has the…
How Much Will You Pay For the HOT Lane?
The results of dynamic tolling appear to be surprising the Florida Department of Transportation. Alone in your car on Florida’s I-95, you no longer have to remain in slow moving traffic. For a price, you can enter a HOV (High…
B(T)FF… Best Trading Friends Forever
We can say that Mexico believes her top trading partner is the United States because the value of her exports to the US (2013: $370,826,831) added to the value of her imports from the US (2013: $370,746,056) is exceeded by none of her other…
What Can We Learn From Downton Abbey Economics?
Downton Abbey can tell us a lot about the British economy…but not everything. We know the aristocracy is struggling. Many of the 700 families who had controlled 80% of all acreage during the 1870s faced financial collapse 50 years later.…