Fascinating Profile of Dorothea Lange

The film Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning (PBS American Masters) is quite extraordinary. The film profiles one of America’s greatest photographers. It also provides illuminating coverage of key historical events (Great Depression, etc.) from the first half of the 20^th century. Lange’s second marriage was to the noted labor economist Paul Schuster Taylor. Lange and Taylor had a tremendous impact on labor rights.

Here is the link to the film:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/dorothea-lange-watch-full-film-dorothea-lange-grab-a-hunk-of-lightning/3260/

Economists and the Tech Sector

Economists have contributed significantly to the success of the technology industry. Robert Litan highlights some of the major contributions made by economists in recent times:

BRICS update

India’s economy gains momentum

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/29/india-economy-gdp-idINKBN0GT19O20140829

Brazil’s economy tanks

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/29/brazil-economy-idINL1N0QZ0J320140829
http://www.project-syndicate.org/print/gene-frieda-is-worried-that-the-country-could-end-up-like-venezuela--mired-in-stagflation

Emerging Markets  - Growth vs. Climate Change Debate

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-29/poor-countries-shouldnt-sacrifice-growth-to-fight-climate-change

The Greatest Speeches of All Time

The Intelligent Life takes a look at the most impressive speeches in history. Naturally, I am biased – I think the one that was given my Vivekananda was the best (since I was named after the guy).

http://moreintelligentlife.com/page/which-best-speech

http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/anonymous/vivekananda

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/bCxLFO6mXEnWV5jYzweoII/Vivekanandas-120yearold-911-speech.html

Burton Malkiel on Equity Markets

Burton Malkiel (Princeton economist and author of “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”) provides the following advice to investors in his WSJ op-ed:

“All equity portfolios should include emerging markets. Emerging markets, accessible through broadly diversified, low-cost, emerging-market exchange traded funds, represent half of global economic activity. They are growing far more rapidly than the developed economies of North America, Europe and Japan and are likely to continue to do so. They generally have less government indebtedness and much younger populations.”

Unemployment Rates and the Labor Market

Determining Unemployment Rates - A Tricky Endeavor
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-27/whats-the-unemployment-rate-new-research-suggests-we-have-no-idea

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/upshot/a-new-reason-to-question-the-official-unemployment-rate.html

Related,

College Majors and Employment

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/26/the-college-majors-most-and-least-likely-to-lead-to-underemployment/

Oil Rich Norway and the Resource Course

Has Norway avoided the dreaded resource curse?

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28882312

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/avoiding-the-curse-of-the-oil-rich-nations/

Kansas City Fed’s 2014 Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole

Highlights from the Jackson Hole Economic Conference:

http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2014/08/24/takeaways-from-jackson-hole-2014-at-a-glance/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/business/central-bankers-new-gospel-spur-jobs-wages-and-inflation.html

A Good Plan to Boost US Household Saving Rate

Shlaes and Edwards, in their op-ed in the WSJ, suggest the creation of a tax-exempt universal saving account modeled on the Canadian Tax-Free Savings Account or TFSA:

 http://online.wsj.com/articles/amity-shlaes-and-chris-edwards-a-simple-tax-reform-can-help-families-and-promote-economic-growth-1408919408