A Return to Westwood
Given the impending UC 8% pay cut (and some talk that faculty who are well paid should volunteer to take a 10% or 12% pay cut), I've been thinking about going on my own Wildcat strike. That's why I stopped blogging for 10 days.
Does Abortion Reduce Crime? Round 16 of the Fight
While the 7 equation structural model on page 12 may not interest everyone, this new Ted Joyce Review Paper is worth reading. One of the great joys of modern empirical applied micro is our focus on measuring the unintended consequences of private and government choices.
Pay Cuts and the Future of the University of California
The UC faculty has been warned that a 8% pay cut is coming in August 2009 . While you shouldn't feel too sorry for us, 8% is a big number and it will have long term consequences.
UC Berkeley's Dara O'Rourke's New Green GoodGuide Firm
Today the NY Times has an interesting piece on Prof O'Rourke's "Moonlighting" as the boss of GoodGuide. He has a fledgling 24 person firm that provides information on how "green" is a product when you use your cellphone to provide data based on its bar code. Read this article .
Two questions.
Book Reviews
How does the NY Times select what books it will review? Or more specifically, why did they choose to review this "brilliant" book about West Los Angeles? This book appears to offer people in NYC, who are unable to move to LA but wonder what their life would be like if they moved to Los Angeles, a go
The Heckman Equation Project
Well, he already is a stata command, so why not introduce an entire equation for Jim Heckman? Most people West of Chicago believe that he merits another Nobel Prize.
A Green Paris and the Joys of Urban Planning
The NY Times has a nice piece on the future of Paris as a "Green" compact city . I respect that they are thinking ahead about how to handle growth and its implications for housing markets and transportation and hence congestion in the city.
Can the Public Balance California's Budget?
The LA Times has a cool web site that gives you a menu of tax increases and expenditure cuts to see what you would do to balance our state's budget.
Hints about Ed Glaeser's 2009 Book
As a book author and occasional book reader, I have been curious about Ed Glaeser's forthcoming Penguin Press book. While I am not Sherlock Holmes, I did discover this. It sounds fascinating and I'm sure it will sell a lot of copies.
New Pew Trust Report on Green Jobs by State
This Pew Trust Study is interesting and probably merits getting a serious academic involved in counting these "green jobs".
Some Serious UCLA Research on Local Air Pollution
Economists are interested in asymmmetric information issues. My colleague Arthur Winer has helped to level the information playing field.
Social Capital and Baboons
UCLA Anthropologists have a good life. In past work, they have investigated what kind of junk we keep in our garages. In new work, they are hanging out with baboons.
I'm in a Detroit State of Mind
Who knew that Billy Joel once had hair? Here he is in 1978 singing "I'm in a Detroit State of Mind." Whoops, I'm confusing my Superstar Cities. But --- I'm thinking about Detroit after reading this N.Y Times wisdom about its new efforts to reinvent itself in a Post-General Motors world.
1971 Los Angeles was Dirty
Sometimes history matters. To get a sense of the "green city" progress that Los Angeles has enjoyed, take a look at some of these photos of Los Angeles back in 1971. No wonder Jim Morrison wrote such strange songs; his mind was altered by black smoke and he didn't even inhale.
Second Appearance on NPR
In case my mom is looking for my Texas NPR hour long interview today on the Green Economy, you can find here .
UCLA IOE Report Card on Lead Poisoning
Amherst's Jessica Reyes has taught us that when kids are exposed to lead that this is associated with higher crime rates 18 years later. Read her BE Press paper. So, those who care about crime and human capital development should care about early life lead exposure.
Does Fame Last? The Stock vs. Flow of Greatness
In academics, if you accomplish one great thing you will always be remembered (think of the Coase thm, coase conjecture). Academics know that they are judged on their best past work (the stock). Unfortunately for Bryan Clay, sports does not appear to work this way.
My Texas NPR Debut at 11am PST tomorrow on "Green Jobs"
"This is Matthew from Los Angeles. I'm a long time listener, first time caller. I'd like to ask Prof. Kahn a question. Why are you trying to pick a fight with Van Jones?" Well, I would prefer to battle Van Halen but Van Jones is now a bigger draw.
Urban Growth and Climate Change
Interested in how city growth affects greenhouse gas production? Interested in how different cities will cope with inevitable climate change? Please read my New Kahn paper . This is part of a larger research project that I will roll out in fall 2009.
