Excellence in Refereeing
At the age of 47, I'm still sending about 6 different papers a year to journals for publication. Yesterday, I had a paper rejected based on a truly silly referee report. So, today I take some pride that the Quarterly Journal of Economics thinks that I'm a good referee.
Would Dennis Rodman Be a Good Dean of the Fletcher School?
I spent several happy and productive years on the faculty at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. As I understand it, the School is searching for a new dean. This NY Times article about Dennis Rodman's visit to North Korea suggests that he could be a good candidate.
Back to Work
Traffic congestion in LA is nasty. In West LA, many people have nice homes that they have configured into their own pleasure palaces. The road traffic and the nice homes have nudged many people to work at home. Many LA workers have their own firms and the firm is based in their house.
Acemoglu vs. Henry: Institutions vs. Policy
This NY Times profile of NYU Dean Peter Henry nudged me to track down his 2009 AER P&P paper that contrasts the economic performance of Barbados vs. Jamaica.
A Saturday at USC
I don't drive. I have a license but I haven't driven 1 mile in the last 5 years. Los Angeles is a car town so this means that when I have to go somewhere somebody gives me a lift. At 815am this Saturday morning, I took a 25 minute cab ride from Westwood to USC.
Face to Face Interaction and the Creation of New Ideas
First, I want to plug my new Ziman Center short piece on commercial electricity consumption. Now, I'd like to turn to a quick case study of why amenities and conferences are complements.
Conflicts of Interest and the Scientific Discovery Process
The Journal of Economic Perspectives has published a fascinating piece about a high stakes competition that took place in the early 1950s in academic economics. The author concludes that Lionel McKenzie merits much more credit for his research on general equilibrium than he has received.
When Do Economists Oppose Shovel Ready Infrastructure?
Matt Turner and Giles Duranton wrote a nice AER paper arguing that in the absence of road pricing that new urban infrastructure (such as highways and bridges) does not reduce traffic congestion.
Eric Cantor's Corner Solution for the NSF's Social Science Budget
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor wants to offer the social scientists a NSF budget of $0. He is a smart man who argues that there is an opportunity cost to giving the "wacky" social scientists $250 million a year. He argues that the scarce $ could be handed to "real scientists".
James Heckman's 30 Second Media Clip on Investing in Kids
Who can oppose a public policy that causes economic growth and reduces income inequality? In this NBC clip, Jim Heckman concisely makes his case for early interventions. The only problem with Dr.
A Natural Experiment on the Value of Electricity
Back in the 1990s, academic economists had a great time publishing "natural experiments" papers. In a similar spirit, take a look at this article about the Cruise Line with no electricity.
Climate Adaptation: Evidence from Holland
What can the Dutch teach us? Erzo G. J. Luttmer has taught me plenty of economics and has been my friend for 25 years. His cousin, Erzo F. P. Luttmer, has taught me plenty over the 15 years that I've known him and read his stuff.
Mao's Love for Ping Pong and His Disgust with Capitalism
Some things change and some things remain the same. My friends in China now like ping pong and capitalism. But, read this obituary. Here is what Mao said: "“Regard a Ping-Pong ball as the head of your capitalist enemy,” the chairman was quoted as saying.
A Blog Post for my Mom
As Basic Books prepares to release the paperback version of my Climatopolis, I thought that my mom would enjoy this. She didn't like the book but maybe she will like the back cover (see below)? This book is going to age well.
Al Gore Changes His Mind on the Beneficial Role of Climate Change Adaptation
Circa 2009, it was politically incorrect to speak of climate change adaptation. Hurricane Sandy and the inability of the U.S Congress to make progress on climate change mitigation and India and China's ongoing growth have all shifted the discussion to climate change adaptation.
Markov: The Man Who Thought Hard About Probability
Markov processes pop up all over economics. This is a simple way to characterize how a random variable such as oil prices or whether you have a job evolves over time.
Commercial Building Electricity Consumption Dynamics
The next time you drive to a suburban mall or stare at an office building ask yourself the following question; how much electricity consumption do these buildings consume? Given the unpriced environmental externalities associated with such consumption, this is a mildly interesting question.
Macro Policy Activism and Alan Blinder's New Book
You do not have to be as smart or articulate as the Nobel Laureate Ed Prescott to see that the intersection of macro policy activism and individual and firm choices under uncertainty can lead to multiple equilibrium and chaos for "experts" whose job it is to predict the consequences of macro policy.
How Do Rats Adapt to Natural Disasters?
The NYC rats must have read my Climatopolis or at least they are acting as if they read my book! The NY Times profiles the rats and documents that in the midst of Hurricane Sandy that they moved to higher ground. I'm not surprised but I'm surprised that you are surprised.
NBA Great Allen Iverson Rejects the Permanent Income Hypothesis
Allen Iverson's consumption profile might puzzle Milton Friedman.
UPDATE: I could be wrong. Here is a direct quote from the Friedman article.
"Yet from another point of view, the assumption seems highly
implausible.
An Idea for Saving Downton Abbey
Has anyone noticed that Downton Abbey is becoming a pinch stale. The "upstairs" crew is flat out boring and predictable. To inject some life into this sinking ship, I suggest that Downton take a page from the Simpsons and start to introduce some celebrities.
New Economic Research on Adapting to Climate Change
Three recent economics studies offer some optimism about our future in a hotter world. Is economics really the "dismal science"? Study #1 on Agriculture, Study #2 on air conditioning , Study #3 on regional impacts.
Andrew Cuomo's Effort to Shift the Incidence of Climate Change Adaptation
Andrew Cuomo is a smart man. He seeks for people like me (residents of California) to subsidize his coastal voters! To adapt to climate change, we will need to retreat from coastal areas where people now have homes. But, a fundamental property rights issue arises.
The Homeless in Cities
On Superbowl Sunday, I want to talk about the urban homeless. The NY Post alerts us that this problem is growing worse again in NYC's Grand Central Station. This is a typical "tragedy of the commons".
The Social Cost of Income Inequality
Robert Frank and I are discussing the important topic of the cost of income inequality in these three posts available here. In this blog post, I'd like to make a few technical points. To start, there are three broad reasons to be concerned about rising income inequality in capitalism.
