Ecological Economics Makes a Comeback!
The WSJ has published a great piece highlighting the wonders of free markets. In the recent past, U.S manufacturers and consumers sent their waste to China. China took this combination of useful elements and garbage and extracted some reusable materials such as steel.
The Value of Structural Econometrics: The Case of China's One Child Policy
Science Magazine has published an interesting blurb about a Demography piece that claims that China's One Child Policy reduced this nation's total population by a billion people.
Amazon Recruiters Visit USC Economics
I am very pleased to welcome Amazon's recruiters to USC Economics. Our talented graduate students are eager to speak to this amazing firm. I just bought a book by Eli Broad on Amazon last night.
The Costs of Paying for "Performance": The Case of Chinese Universities
The NY Times has published an excellent piece on the unintended consequences of pay for performance incentives introduced at Chinese universities. This type of "Freakonomics" highlights several issues in modern economics.
The Challenge of Phasing Out Coal: Compensating Capital but not Labor
Michael Bloomberg understands the Coase Theorem. He has proposed to buy and then shut down some coal fired power plants. Read Haarstad's 2012 JPE paper on this general topic of environmentalists purchasing coal and leaving it in the ground. Note that this approach isn't a takings.
What Does an Economics Department Chair Do All Day Long?
I have now completed my first two months as the Chair of USC Economics. It is my impression that the University of Southern California fascinates outsiders. People know that Los Angeles is a wonderful sunny city. People know that USC is a private university raising a large amount of money.
A Few Thoughts About Puerto Rico and "Climate Refugees"
Could a silver lining of the damage caused by Hurricane Maria be that migration from Puerto Rico to more productive places in the continental U.S accelerates? While the popular media is discussing the challenge caused by "climate refugees", I have argued in the past that migrants are self interest