In 2015, I co-authored a paper about the consequences of "Buy America" legislation. Now that I see that President Trump will require "Buy America" (see the pipeline case study) our paper offers some insights about the near future. For details about "Buy America" click here.
As I read Dr. Krugman's column today, I started to think about "value added" and import tariffs. Suppose that a pair of sneakers sold in the U.S features the following global supply chain.
Nathaniel Popper has written a great NY Times piece about the consequences of crowdfunding. Crowdfunding represents a matching market in which small investors (people like you and me) seek to invest our $ in startups.
Here are the highlights of the discussion from a recent Brookings Panel on infrastructure investment. Harvard's Larry Summers and Ed Glaeser each made some important points but I side with Glaeser. Dr. Summers appears to view infrastructure as a Keynesian stimulus that is palatable to Republicans.
I am listening to Jimi Hendrix and I'm trying to think about predictions I'm willing to make about environmental regulation under President Trump. Both Don Trump and I both lived in New York City in the early 1970s. This was a time when Manhattan was dirty, dangerous and disillusioned.
Why should Michigan taxpayers subsidize the University of Michigan if most of its best graduates move to California and New York? This thought crosses my mind as I read this piece.
CNN has just published a good piece where I am quoted about pollution exposure inequality in China. My research on this topic can be found here and here and here. Consider a large number of people who differ with respect to their income levels.
To my surprise, leading academic labor economists are now talking about monopsony in labor markets such that firms have market power in setting wages. Such models offer a micro-foundation for arguing that there is "worker exploitation" and the transfer of income from labor to capital (see Piketty).
President Obama set in motion a plan that would require that new cars achieve over 50 miles per gallon by the year 2025. The Obama Administration argued that this policy would slow down climate change and would save households $ by reducing their gas expenditures.
Next week, Daxuan Zhao and I will release a new economics paper focused on the role that climate skeptics play in determining how people adapt to climate change.
President-Elect Trump is a "natural experiment". Back in the mid-1990s, the top 5 academic journals were filled with such applied micro papers. Suppose President Trump ends the H1B Visa program.
In my capacity as the Director of Undergraduate Studies at USC Economics, I worked hard during Fall 2016 to put together some interesting programming for our students. Our set of fall events is listed here and here is the new USC Economics Review (our undergraduate journal).
I see that Paul Krugman is talking about the consequences of Fake News so I will enter this market and supply some thoughts. I will define fake news as stories that are "juicy" but not true. Think of headlines such as "Elvis is Alive". This is an old example of fake news.
Rick Barry and Nobel Laureate Bengt Holmstrom should write a principal-agent hidden effort paper together.
Macy's is selling a major property in downtown Minneapolis. In our Internet Amazon world, you do not need to order durable goods from such a store. Sales must be down at this location and there is a serious opportunity cost to dedicating so much space to commercial real estate.
The NY Times has published a thought provoking piece about the "frightful five". While I believe that these five leading high tech companies have generated tremendous consumer surplus for billions of people, the NY Times hints at an ugly future.
All travelers know how frustrating it can be to change your travel plans due to bad weather. In the past, you lined up on a long line at the airport to talk to a travel representative.
