UCLA's Lab School is in the News
My son attends the UCLA Lab school. We are generally happy with his education but we would like to see him doing more math and having more homework. I voiced these opinions to another UCLA faculty member, whose child is in my son's class, and she told me that I'm not a progressive thinker.
NIMBYism in China: Evidence from Shanghai
In democracies, the state is supposed to respond to the desires of "the people". Is this also the case in non-democracies? This case study below tells an interesting tale of of urban protest in the face of a new transit Mega-Project in Shanghai.
The Next Generation of Conservatives?
My six year old son is a big fan of Senator Obama and does not particularly like Senator Clinton. These impressions were based on seeing both of them on TV. He also once had a snack at the UC GSB with Austan Goolsbee and he thinks that Austan would be a fine CEA Chair.
New UCLA Sociology Research: What Predicts an Oscar Nomination?
What do sociologists do all day long? We know that some Columbia University sociologists study social networks and others write about their graduate student days embedded in a Chicago street gang.
A Negative Review of Green Cities
Be careful what you wish for! I had hoped that the Journal of Economic Literature would review my Green Cities book and in the December 2007 issue they do. Ed Mills is a giant in Urban Economics. He is not one to hide his opinions. In this review I cite below, he gives me a good spanking.
Balance California's State Budget Deficit Using a "Windfall Profits" Tax on Home Sales
I started to write the following editorial for submission to the Los Angeles Times. Rather send it there, I decided to shirk and publish it here.
Saudi Arabia Plays "SimCity" for High Stakes
This New York Times Article highlights that armed with trillions of "petro-dollars" Saudi Arabia is getting ready to build some brown cities whose employment base will specialize in making plastics and other dirty manufacturing activity.
Green Cities: The Benefits of Density
In past blog entries, I have talked about the environmental benefits of sprawl. When people live at low density, this creates a moat effect reducing contagion and exposure risk. I am well aware that people consume more resources when they live a low density.
Job Talk Season
UCLA's Economics Faculty Recruiting is in high gear. We made good progress on senior recruiting in the fall and now we are in the middle of junior recruiting. There are a large number of talks taking place so there are endless 1/2 hour meetings, lunches, dinners, talks.
Jared Diamond versus the Critics: A Quick Debate on the Ecological Footprint
The Chronicle of Higher Education offers more insights than simply providing academic gossip about which Dean from which state school is moving to the Ivy League.
Pollution Havens, Dead Cellphones and Reducing "E-Waste"
It was 75 degrees today here in LA, so it was time to climb as high as man my age can at Will Rogers State Park. I'm glad Mr. Rogers left his estate to the public.
Celebrities Near UCLA
There lurks a hypothesis about West LA that I hope is false. "For every year a person lives in Hollywood, they lose two points off their IQ." Maybe it is time for Britney Spears to relocate from near UCLA and move to Cambridge, MA? The article below gives UCLA some well earned recognition.
YouTube for Nerds
Have any economists competed yet on American Idol? This new "YouTube" for nerds will give us a chance. I must admit that I'm intrigued. There are endless possibilities here related to open source and idea sharing.
Are Research Seminars and Faculty Recruiting Trips Causing Global Warming?
I'd like to tell you more about what is going on here at UCLA. Even our historians are working on mitigating climate change! What are your historians doing? I will buy a Terra Pass for anyone who can answer that question.
Back to Work!
I'm starting to think that I'd prefer to paid per academic task rather than per annual salary. Now a cynic like you will claim that facing this quantity incentive that I would shirk on quality.
The Perils of Being a Day to Day Green
Bundling always interests economists. If you buy a hybrid, you have bought a bundle of attributes.
Jared Diamond on the Environmental Cost of Economic Growth
I'm always happy to see UCLA faculty publish high profile pieces. While I've never met Jared Diamond, I am impressed by his rise as a public intellectual. Here, Jared Diamond's New York Times Op-Ed Piece he focuses on the potential ecological costs of all of the world achieving the "American Dream".
