Catastrophic Climate Change? Lessons from Urban Economics
The Economist Magazine has published a "philosophical" piece about climate change mitigation. I'd like to blog about a single paragraph in this piece related to the benefits of reducing global GHG emissions.
Do Relaxed Capital Market Constraints Explain the Declining Trend in the Quality of Marine Corps Officers?
From the year 2000 to 2006, I was colleagues with Michael Klein at the Fletcher School. He and a co-author have released an important working paper that is discussed here.
Working at USC
I have now figured out how to operate my office PC and how to deposit a paycheck. At USC Econ, I've even gotten some work done.
Reducing the Urban Damage Caused by Floods
Climate scientists continue to warn us that flood risk in coastal areas is increasing because of sea level rise. How do we adapt to this anticipated but vague threat? The threat is vague because we don't know when and how severe and where will any specific flood occur.
The REPEC Fantasy League and My Initial Endowment of Economists
When I was a kid, I played Stratomatic baseball. This was a precursor to Billy Beane's Moneyball. Now that I'm no longer a kid, I have signed up for REPEC's fantasy League and below I report my initial roster (that I was assigned at random).
Optimism About Our Rising Standard of Living
Arthur Brooks' OP-ED focuses on the politics of optimism but I would prefer to recast his focus on what should be the basis of our optimism about our collective future. In 2015, we live in a world with roughly 7.3 billion people whose life expectancy is higher than it has every been.
Are China's Mayors Good at "Picking Winners"? An Evaluation of Managed Industrial Policy
Jianfeng Wu, Siqi Zheng, Weizeng Sun and I have just released a new NBER paper titled "The Birth of Edge Cities in China: Measuring the Spillover Effects of Industrial Parks".
Abstract
Several Chinese cities have invested billions of dollars to construct new industrial parks.
Dr. Krugman's Discussion of "MIT vs. Chicago Macro" Recast as "Discretion vs. Rules"
My parents joined us in Cambridge, MA this week and on Thursday morning I met them outside the Sonesta Hotel as they were reading Paul Krugman's column titled "The MIT Gang".
Cambridge, MA
We are flying back to LA. Hundreds of talented, ambitious and mostly young economists have been meeting at the Sonesta Hotel. The week started off with environmental and urban papers and then labor studies, crime, kids and aging. Plenty of new ideas to think about.
Does Behavioral Economics Explain Progressives Support for the "Profit Sharing" Economy?
Read Richard Freeman's and Doug Kruse's OP-ED in the New York Times today. They argue that more companies should pay their workers with stock equity in the company. They point out that great companies such as Google and Starbucks already do this.
Anonymous Transactions are No Longer Anonymous
Do competitive markets treat people fairly? Starbucks offers me a "take it or leave it" offer for their coffee. If I pay $2, I get a "tall" cup. Everyone is charged the same price and treated the same way.
Paul Krugman Enters the Field of Labor Economics
Did Prof. David Neumark agree with Paul Krugman's NY Times piece today praising the benefits of raising the minimum wage? Here are some direct quotes that challenged some things that Becker, Heckman, Rosen, Lazear, Murphy and Topel taught me a long time ago.
The Economics of Big City Public Urination
What do smoking, not cleaning up dog poop, flushing medications down the toliet, lighting your wood burning chimney, not taking your 1972 Buick for a tuneup and public urination all have in common? These are all funky examples of the Tragedy of the Commons.
Global Progress in Life Expectancy at Birth
While the World Bank's WDI doesn't make pretty pictures, this graph presents world average life expectancy at birth over the years 1960 to 2014. Life expectancy has increased from 52 years to 71 years over the past 54 years.
Google's Zeitgeist Update as of July 2015: Rising Interest in Gay Marriage and Declining Interest in Global Warming
Google offers plenty of insights at a low cost. Below, I use Google Trends to make a graph of Google Web Search activity in the United States from January 2004 until the present.
Do Unions Impede Efficiency? Evidence from the NBA
Would the NBA offer a better product (i.e a higher quality caliber of basketball) in the absence of player union rules? David Blatt is the coach of LeBron James' Cavs.
Links from the Wall Street Journal: Green Lego and Safer Plane Rides in Asia
Lego is a popular building block in kids toys. Have you ever noticed that Lego pieces are built out of plastic? The WSJ journal reports that the manufacturer wants to reduce its carbon footprint by swapping out plastic and using a "bio-based" input instead. Ingenuity again.
Ted Bergstrom's Love and Spaghetti Revisited
Back in 1989, I was a graduate student and I enjoyed reading the Journal of Economic Perspectives. One classic piece was written by UCSB's Ted Bergstrom where he analyses the efficient distribution of resources (spaghetti) when the economic agents feel altruism for each other. Here is the paper.
The Chinese Solution to Pollution is Dilution?
This news item reports that the Beijing Central Government will move several low level government activities out of Beijing.
Education's Impact on Health: Selection or Treatment Effects?
The causal effects of education on health is an important and optimistic hypothesis. More than 40 years ago, Michael Grossman started this literature with this paper based on Gary Becker's household production function approach.
Persistence in One's Ideological Worldview: Evidence from Bernie Sanders
A retired UCLA Sociology Professor has published the following letter in today's NY Times:
To the Editor:
I roomed with Bernie Sanders, the presidential candidate, at the University of Chicago in 1963, and he was not the wild man you describe (“Outsider Went Mainstream, but Message Changed Little,
How Much Does it Cost to Live in a Lower Poverty Neighborhood in Los Angeles?
The NY Times discusses HUD's Move to Opportunity in this piece. While I like the piece, the reporters did not bother to discuss with any real estate economists what it would cost to move to a better neighborhood in a big city without the HUD subsidies. Permit me to fill this void.
Goldman Sachs Has Created a 3 Minute Video Showcasing the Real Effects of Finance (i.e a New Stadium for the San Fran 49ers")
At a time when many NY Times readers want to raise taxes on Wall Street to 80% (see Piketty), Goldman Sachs is launching a "charm offensive" to explain its value added to the economy.
Texas Governor Rick Perry Presents Some Solid Econ 101 Logic
In this gated WSJ Editorial, Gov. Rick Perry is quoted and says; "There is a lot of talk in Washington about inequality. Income inequality. But there is a lot less talk about the inequality that arises from the high cost of everyday life.
Would Mark Zuckerberg Have Been a Good Economics Professor?
In the one factor model of ability, the best chess player would be the best boxer.
Fighting Crime Through Profiling and Paying "for Performance"
The NY Times reports that in Richmond, California (close to Berkeley) that young African-American and Hispanic men are being targeted for an intervention which they are paid not to commit crimes. This "profiling" (it is argued) reduces crime and it is cheaper than hiring extra police.
July 4th Climate Change Adaptation Economics
How costly is it for your city to adapt to new challenges posed by climate change? Today, the NT Times takes us to Cupertino, California and Seattle. In Cupertino, (close to San Jose), fireworks on July 4th have been canceled because of lingering drought conditions.
First Day on the Job
I now have a key to my USC Econ office. As you can see below, I plan to keep this office sparsely furnished. There is a desk, three chairs, a computer screen (with no computer box) and a printer. The room features no book shelves, no blackboard, no whiteboards, and no filing cabinets.