Saturday, March 31, 2018
Weekend Readings
Economics and Politics
Economist Justin Wolfers on corporate tax cuts
Whatever Happened to Saving for a Rainy Day?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/end-of-american-countercyclical-fiscal-policy-by-carmen-reinhart-2018-03
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/end-of-american-countercyclical-fiscal-policy-by-carmen-reinhart-2018-03
Economist Justin Wolfers on corporate tax cuts
Impact of Changes to Income Tax
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/30/the-richest-americans-get-a-33000-tax-break-under-the-gop-tax-law-the-poorest-get-40/
The Flailing Infrastructure Plan
International Trade and Jobs
Journalism, Technology and Politics
Is Populism Returning to Latin America?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/populism-returning-to-latin-america-by-andres-velasco-2018-03
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/populism-returning-to-latin-america-by-andres-velasco-2018-03
Reflections on Journalism by Roger
Cohen
Big Data, Privacy and Politics
Politics in Kenya
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/03/29/kenya-may-have-its-own-donald-trump-to-deal-with/
Sisi's Control of Egypt Is Absolute
Friday, March 30, 2018
Lessons from Behavioral Economics/Psychology
Nudge for good: How insights from behavioral economics can improve the world— and manipulate people
The U.K.'s Coming Sugar Tax Is Already Working
Why are Poor People Less Future-Oriented?
Abenomics vs. Reaganomics
Noah Smith on the impact of Abenomics on Japan's economy:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-29/abenomics-looks-a-lot-like-reaganomics
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-29/abenomics-looks-a-lot-like-reaganomics
Thursday, March 29, 2018
US Fiscal Future
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – Beware of Economists Crying 'Entitlement
Explosion'
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-29/beware-economists-who-warn-of-an-entitlement-explosion
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-29/beware-economists-who-warn-of-an-entitlement-explosion
India - A Counterweight to China?
Can India act as a counterweight to China?
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-29/india-isn-t-spending-enough-on-its-military-to-take-on-china
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-29/india-isn-t-spending-enough-on-its-military-to-take-on-china
Recommended Reading:
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Student Loans and Optimal Home Ownership Levels
The Financial
Crisis Isn't Over for Students
Economics of Home Buying
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/upshot/housing-sales-mortgage-rates-tax-law.html
Hunting for the
Perfect Rate of Homeownership
Related:Economics of Home Buying
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/upshot/housing-sales-mortgage-rates-tax-law.html
Monday, March 26, 2018
Oil Futures Trading in China
An important development in the global commodities market -
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-oil-futures/shanghai-crude-oil-futures-roar-into-action-as-glencore-bags-first-trade-idUSKBN1H207T
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-oil-futures/shanghai-crude-oil-futures-roar-into-action-as-glencore-bags-first-trade-idUSKBN1H207T
Predicting the US Economy's Next Inflection Point
2020 – A Potential Inflection Point?
Factors that could derail the US economy
Is there a disconnect between equity markets and the real
economy?
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Weekend Readings
Neil Irwin’s interesting piece: Globalization’s
Backlash Is Here, at Just the Wrong Time
What We Didn't
Learn from the Bear Stearns Collapse
Noah Smith on Automation and Jobs
Fed’s Policy Dilemma
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY: The Continuing Success of Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley's
Demise Has Been Postponed Again
Why Silicon
Valley Hasn't Moved to Texas (Yet)
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Trade Wars Become a Reality
Useful primer on Tariffs
It is time for markets and economists to seriously consider
the risk of a full-blown trade war:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-21/asian-stocks-face-mixed-start-dollar-sinks-on-fed-markets-wrap
Yale economist Stephen Roach on US-China Trade Conflict
Is Europe ready for a trade war?
Fact versus
Fiction
In the era of global supply chains, traditional trade
figures are increasingly meaningless
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Monday, March 19, 2018
Interesting Items
Are money managers compensated appropriately?
China Gets a New Central Banker
Negative effects of modern technology
Black-White Income Gap in America
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Crossing the Line - Data Analytics and Election Campaigns
A sordid story – Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook
data may have crossed the line:
Smarter Ways to Boost US Exports
American products need to be effectively marketed and
sold abroad
America’s comparative advantage is in the service sector
Friday, March 16, 2018
Decline in Global Fertility Rates
A positive development for Humanity and Planet Earth:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-16/decline-in-world-fertility-rates-lowers-risks-of-mass-starvation
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-16/decline-in-world-fertility-rates-lowers-risks-of-mass-starvation
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Basic Lessons in Economics
Useful primer on Tariffs
High Cost of Healthcare in the US
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/13/the-real-reason-the-u-s-spends-twice-as-much-on-health-care-as-other-wealthy-countries/
https://www.economist.com/news/business/21738934-it-not-pharmaceutical-companies-which-firms-profit-most-americas-health-care-system
High Cost of Healthcare in the US
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/13/the-real-reason-the-u-s-spends-twice-as-much-on-health-care-as-other-wealthy-countries/
Economics of Prescription Drug Prices
Related:https://www.economist.com/news/business/21738934-it-not-pharmaceutical-companies-which-firms-profit-most-americas-health-care-system
Energy, Technology and Geopolitics
China and the US battle for tech dominance
Energy and Global Geopolitics
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
China - Politics and Economic Performance
Yukon Huang on China’s Economic Structure and Performance
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/opinion/china-economy-corruption.html
Francis Fukuyama on China’s Political Future
Francis Fukuyama on China’s Political Future
Stephen Hawking’s Contributions to Science
Stephen Hawking's Contributions
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/science/stephen-hawking-timeline.html
Stephen Hawking, science's brightest star,
dies aged 76
Great Movie - The Theory of Everything
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/science/stephen-hawking-timeline.html
'Mind over matter': Stephen Hawking –
obituary by Roger Penrose
Great Movie - The Theory of Everything
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Monday, March 12, 2018
Africa - Natural Resources and Economic Development
Ghana is now one of the fastest growing
economies in the world
Wakanda's Prosperity Isn't So Far-Fetched for Africa
How to save Botswana’s sparkling reputation
Nigeria – Short Video
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Jean Tirole – A Brilliant Economist
Interview with Jean Tirole, the 2014 winner of the Nobel
Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Physics Controversies
Illuminating read:
NATALIE WOLCHOVER notes:
“…physicists are
still trying to understand how space-time curvature emerges on macroscopic
scales from a more fundamental, presumably quantum picture of gravity; it’s
arguably the deepest question in physics.”
The Truth About Winston Churchill
Shining light on the real Winston Churchill:
Shashi Tharoor correctly notes:
“Churchill’s
beatification as an apostle of freedom seems all the more preposterous given
his 1941 declaration that the Atlantic Charter’s principles would not apply to
India and the colored colonies. He refused to see people of color as entitled
to the same rights as himself….
Thanks to Churchill,
some 4 million Bengalis starved to death in a 1943 famine. Churchill ordered
the diversion of food from starving Indian civilians to well-supplied British
soldiers and even to top up European stockpiles in Greece and elsewhere.”
Is it Time to Get Rid of Daylight Saving Time?
100 years later, the madness of daylight
saving time endures
Michael Downing notes:
“For centuries
people set their clocks and watches by looking up at the sun and estimating,
which yielded wildly dissimilar results between (and often within) cities and
towns.
To railroad
companies around the world, that wasn’t acceptable. They needed synchronized,
predictable station times for arrivals and departures, so they proposed
splitting up the globe into 24 time zones.
In 1883, the
economic clout of the railroads allowed them to replace sun time with standard
time with no legislative assistance and little public opposition. The clocks
were calm for almost 30 years, apart from an annual debate in the British
Parliament over whether to pass a Daylight Saving Act. While proponents argued
that shoving clocks ahead during summer months would reduce energy consumption
and encourage outdoor recreation, the opposition won out.
Then, in 1916,
Germany suddenly adopted the British idea in hopes of conserving energy for its
war effort. Within a year, Great Britain followed suit. And despite fanatical
opposition from the farm lobby, so would the United States.”
China's Rise and the International Order
A New Order for the Indo-Pacific
Renewable Energy and Chinese Power
Related:
Thursday, March 8, 2018
History Lesson: Famous yet Underappreciated Women
Interesting NYTIMES project:
A few standouts –
Madhubala
Trade Wars Endanger the Rules-Based International System
The rules-based system is in grave danger
The looming global trade war
The U.S. Milks Europe, Not the Other Way Around
Related:
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Venezuela's Economic and Political Woes
Venezuela’s Economic Collapse
Ricardo Hausmann on Venezuela’s Democratic Future
Fallacies Associated with International Trade [Updated]
“We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement
of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.” – George Orwell
Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs notes:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/opinions/trump-tariff-move-shows-his-ignorance-sachs/index.html
“Trump thinks that America runs trade deficits with countries like China and Germany because the US is being swindled by them. The real reason is that the US saves too little and consumes too much, and it pays for this bad habit by borrowing from the rest of the world. The Trump theory of international trade is like a man in deep debt who blames his creditors for his spendthrift behavior.”
How the U.S. Squandered Its Steel Superiority
“Trump thinks that America runs trade deficits with countries like China and Germany because the US is being swindled by them. The real reason is that the US saves too little and consumes too much, and it pays for this bad habit by borrowing from the rest of the world. The Trump theory of international trade is like a man in deep debt who blames his creditors for his spendthrift behavior.”
How the U.S. Squandered Its Steel Superiority
Trump's Tariffs
Look Like a Self-Inflicted Wound
Steel and Aluminum Jobs Don't Add Up to Much
US Manufacturing –
Still Going Strong
Tariffs imposed on Solar Panels & Washing
Machine by the US Government will prove to be a costly mistake:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-dangerous-precedent-on-trade-brought-to-you-by-solar-panel-tariffs/article/2646758
Megan McArdle on Tariffs on Solar Panels and Washing Machines
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-dangerous-precedent-on-trade-brought-to-you-by-solar-panel-tariffs/article/2646758
Megan McArdle on Tariffs on Solar Panels and Washing Machines
“Raising the cost of solar panels will have an adverse
impact on the jobs of solar panel installers, and mean more power generated
from dirtier, limited resources. These tariffs are economically distortionary
and bad for Americans, and they should be lifted.
But the impact on American consumers of higher washing
machine prices is immensely greater than the impact of higher solar panel
prices.”
The Idiocy of Trade Tariffs
Why Free Trade Matters by Harvard
economist Greg Mankiw
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/business/trump-economists-trade-tariffs.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/business/trump-economists-trade-tariffs.html
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 –
History Lesson
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Italy - Europe's Own Banana Republic
Italy’s Crony Capitalist System
https://theconversation.com/italys-economy-has-cronyism-disease-but-will-its-next-government-treat-it-92807
Italy’s Five-Star
Electoral Performance
Related:
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Chinese Investment in Africa - The Case of Ethiopia
China Is Turning Ethiopia Into a Giant Fast-Fashion Factory
The Natural Rate of Unemployment Debate
How low can the US unemployment rate go?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/upshot/how-low-can-unemployment-really-go-economists-have-no-idea.html
The Economist on the natural rate of unemployment:
https://www.economist.com/news/economics-brief/21727050-policymakers-have-spent-half-century-search-natural-rate-unemployment
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/upshot/how-low-can-unemployment-really-go-economists-have-no-idea.html
The Economist on the natural rate of unemployment:
https://www.economist.com/news/economics-brief/21727050-policymakers-have-spent-half-century-search-natural-rate-unemployment
Theory versus Empirics
Karl Smith on the theory versus empirics debate:
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/artificial-intelligence-long-term-economic-growth-by-kenneth-rogoff-2018-03
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/artificial-intelligence-long-term-economic-growth-by-kenneth-rogoff-2018-03
Long-Run Economic Growth Prospects - Scientists versus Economists
Harvard economist Ken Rogoff considers the prospects for long-run growth:
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/artificial-intelligence-long-term-economic-growth-by-kenneth-rogoff-2018-03
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/artificial-intelligence-long-term-economic-growth-by-kenneth-rogoff-2018-03
Thursday, March 1, 2018
SPRING BREAK - Documentaries Worth Watching
Big Fish versus Small Fish – Why only a small bank in NYC was targeted after the financial crisis
while the more culpable Wall Street giants walked free
Award winning documentary [extraordinary look at the
American legal and financial system]
The
best new documentary on the Middle East mess:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/bitter-rivals-iran-and-saudi-arabia/
PART 1 is especially good.
PART 1 is especially good.
Construction Sector - A Drag on the US Economy
Bloomberg’s Noah Smith on how the construction sector is
holding back the American economy
Profile of Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton
Interesting profile of Angus Deaton, the 2015 Nobel Prize
winner in Economics
Education - Learning Matters
To realize education’s promise, countries need to
prioritize learning, not just schooling
---
The School Choice Debate - International Lessons
New Zealand is a school choice utopia. But do students perform better?
Is Sweden proof that school choice doesn’t improve education
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