We return to UCLA this sunday. This year, I'm hoping to try out for the football team like Robert Redford in the Natural. I've always said that the academic summers are too long. I need a little bit of structure in my life to get work done. Yesterday, I took my first exam in more than a decade.
The rise of behavioral economics has blurred the lines between rational choice economics and psychology. Today the New York Times offers a "quiz" to determine which camp you belong to. Read this interview below and think about Dr. Gigerenzer's work.
In the absence of government intervention, insurance prices would be high in areas that the actuaries identify as having high a high risk of being "attacked" by mother nature or other more human threats.
This paper cited below presents an interesting fact based on some 5th grade kids. The heavy ones miss more school.
Today the New York Times editorial page endorses bigger government.
I guess that I'm not a loyal guy. I switch sports teams depending on who is winning. Now I've learned that I switch newspapers depending on who is writing interesting stuff. Dan Gardner is! Below he refers to a paper published in the December 2006 issue of the Journal of Economic History.
Suppose you went to the Harvard Economics Department or the Kennedy School and you surveyed senior faculty asking them how much time a week do they talk to reporters, what would the average be? Would the mean be lower if you surveyed Yale's Economics Department? If so, why?
With the rise of popular
With the rise of popular
The Times is reporting that NYC will receive roughly $350 million federal dollars to address congestion. The article is vague about what is the "treatment" and how it could "cause" a reduction in congestion.
During the fall 2007 quarter, I will co-teach a new course at UCLA titled "Energy and the Modern Economy". My partner will be an astro-physicist named Mike Jura. I must admit that I feel for Mike.
As a renter, I'm starting to like what I'm seeing in the over-heated Western Los Angeles housing market! My question for Big Ben Bernanke regards China's foreign reserves. Suppose you were China's Secretary of the Treasury.
Should elected officials lead by example? This Los Angeles Times reporter has done in homework. He tracked down the water consumption of many of the leading Los Angeles political leaders and showed that they often have a very big "ecological footprint".
Don't ask me why but I was wondering what Paul Romer is writing recently so I went to his webpage. He appears to believe in quality of output over quantity. I could learn from him! I wondering if someday soon the University of Chicago will replace the graduate PHD core exams with Aplia exams.
A friend of mine emailed me that I was quoted in today's Boston Globe and International Herald Tribune. Below you can read the longer article that focuses on Robert Putnam's new work on the cost of diversity.
Academic economists are all over the popular press these days. Whether we are investigating NBA referee racial bias or parking tickets at the UN or advocating higher or lower taxes for hedge fund managers, we have an opinion backed up by a rigorous model and a few favorite facts.
