An Update on My Dad's Publications
I agree with others that bloggers such as myself have nothing new to say. So, rather than talking about Greece or Paul Krugman, I want to talk about my father's recent publications. Here are some titles of his work that you are unlikely to see in the QJE.
Vain Economists
Economists like to compete and Google Scholar has given us a new way to compete with a ranking system that is merely one mouse click away. Is this metric better than the REPEC metric? We don't care. We just want to compete.
Embracing An Example from Ecological Economics
Neo-classical environmental economists have a strange relationship with our ecological economics brethren.
Is Social Science Becoming Too Sexy?
This is a scary piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Academics want fame and we know what makes the headlines. Demand creates supply.
Energy Consumption in the Suburbs
A NY Times opinion piece today argues that suburban buildings are major electricity consumers and that this is bad. The piece presents no facts about what a Microsoft Campus' per-worker energy consumption is and what it would have been had the campus been assembled in downtown Seattle.
Some Links for Today
As gas prices rise, will small cities suffer as airlines cancel small jet flights connecting them to big cities?
Will fear of future drought nudge you to buy plants that thrive in Afghanistan?
Does The Sex Pistols' Wall Art Merit Historical Preservation Status?
In a world where Elton John has been knighted, shouldn't Johnny Rotten's art work be preserved? London's thought leaders are now wrestling with this issue.
Triggered Budget Cuts Offer Another Test of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis
Suppose that a military contractor's earns its revenue from selling hardware to the military. Suppose that this contractor makes a marginal piece of equipment such as those over-priced Osprey helicopters.
Anticipating The Costs of Drought Induced by Climate Change
I missed this piece by Joe Romm about future Dust Bowls caused by climate change.
Of Birds and Men
This piece published in the Sacramento Bee is not about pepper spray use at UC Davis. Instead, it focuses on how California's birds are and will adapt to climate change. There are several interesting patterns as some birds are becoming bigger while others are becoming smaller.
The Future of the Sierra Club
The environmental movement is diverse and diffused. It faces transaction costs to working together to lobby for green causes. You don't have to be Mancur Olson to anticipate that it will face "David vs.
Where Can NBA Players Play This Year?
If you are a skilled worker and you are displaced from your current job, empirical research on local labor markets say that you should migrate to another market where you can work. NBA players have read this research and are seeking out migration opportunities.
Arbitrage in Housing Markets
This New York Times article is worth reading. You will learn about a fascinating arbitrage opportunity.
Bad Apples
Today, I was serving up one of my classic environmental economics lectures. I have posted all of my course materials here.
Does Harvard Cause Income Inequality?
Staring in the 1980s, labor economists wrote thousands of empirical papers documenting the rising return to skill. If schools such as Harvard supply such skill, then "Higher Education" is a cause of income inequality as it leads to a separation of top workers from the rest.
Revolt at the University of California?
This article surprised me. According to the LA Times, the UC Regents are not meeting this week because of fear of violence as OWS has created a license for some folks to roar.
The facts are simple. The State of California has sharply reduced its funding of the University of California.
What If Economists Ran Nations?
Italy is about to run an interesting experiment as its new leader is an economist. I have argued before that relative to lawyers that economists are vastly under-represented in the U.S Congress. I have claimed that this discrimination against economists has efficiency and equity consequences.
Too Much Time on Your Hands?
Do you remember that Styxs song? Well, for those of you with too much spare time and are interested in California Green Issues and enjoy watching KABC with David Ono, then you can watch this and this and see if I make any witty remarks.
Judging the Health of the California Economy
If you enjoy seeing California suffer then you should study the data charts available here. We appear to be collecting less tax revenue and are making greater local assistance transfers. An alternative source of information on the state of the economy is available here.
Occupy Harvard: Round Two
The Harvard Crimson Reports: “If Harvard is going to be a place that produces people with power, then Harvard must be an institution where the public good is more important than private profit,” McCarthy said.
Urban Noise Pollution and the Flight Path of Supersonic Jets
At around 11am yesterday, a military jet flew at low altitude and real fast over the heart of Los Angeles. You could hear a loud and scary boom as it flew.
Climatopolis: One Last Time
My friends at PERC were kind enough to give me the opportunity to write about the role that free markets will play in helping us to adapt to climate change. My new essay is published here.
The Choice of Undergraduate Major
Why do so many young people major in Economics rather than "STEM"? Is it because our bloggers are so much wittier than their bloggers? Today in the letters section of the NY Times, we learn the answer . Permit me to quote Columbia's wise Prof. Firestein.
Debt vs. Equity
I realize that Grease is the Word but why must Germany lend more money to Greece? If Greek public sector workers want to continue to live the good life (and retire at 50), why doesn't the nation sell some of its valuable assets to Germany? My parents just had a wonderful trip to Greece.
Road Trip
I am on a bumpy Amtrak Train moving at 40 MPH from Boston to NYC. Is this high speed rail? If I make it before sunset, you can meet me at the Oxford University Press Office. Yesterday, I spent a great day at MIT.
