Two times the size of New Jersey, Norway’s Svalbard territory has a single jail cell that was briefly occupied a year ago. Trying to decide why Svalbard has little crime, some cite its sparse population of 3,000 or the fact that it is an…
What is the Real Natural Gas Trade off?
Our occasional Wednesday environment focus When you discuss natural gas, do you refer to the environment, the economy or the law? Just mention natural gas to some of my friends and they focus on the environment. Concerned about the impact of the process used…
One Reason to Quit A Job
Have you ever gone through a series of phone messages that finally take you to the department you need? Then, after 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15, no one picks up and you start to wonder if you should hang up. Deciding what…
Gender Issues: The Real Work Home Tradeoffs
Our Monday gender issue focus I can still recall reading Anne-Marie Slaughter’s explanation of why women could not “have it all.” Published almost exactly 2 years ago in The Atlantic, the article focused on Dr. Slaughter’s decision to leave a high level State Department position in Washington, DC.…
Opportunity Cost & The Meat Eater's Dilemma
Our Wednesday environment focus: Are you a meat avoider, eater or reducer? On a scale of meat consumption, we can place the avoiders at one end, the eaters at the other, and the reducers in the middle because they are meatless for at least one day each week. Where…
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 high school classmate who did not attend college. Looked at slightly differently (below), the…
Ethical Dilemmas for College Endowments
The closer you look at ethical investing for university endowments, the more you see the tradeoffs. The headline coverage began when Stanford announced it would “not make direct investments in coal mining companies.” Explaining, Stanford’s President John Hennessy said, “Stanford has a responsibility as a global citizen…
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 is low income. Spending all disposable income each week, the hand-to-mouth household is unable…
The Problem With Demand For Strawberries
Our Wednesday Environment Focus Every morning, with my yogurt, I enjoy a strawberry-grape smoothie and then later, writing this blog, I munch on almonds. And, like me, other baby boomers are buying more strawberries and raspberries, almonds and pistachios. The problem is…
How to Defend or Oppose Thomas Piketty
Summarizing Thomas Piketty’s voluminous research in his new book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” the NY Times said that looking back, we have overstated the beneficence of capitalism and looking forward, gross income inequality is our destiny unless policies radically change.…
