Homeownership Revisited: An Economist's Perspective
A majority of American adults live in owner occupied housing. As an economist, I celebrate the logic of revealed preference. While many poor people are renters, many non-poor people reveal that the benefits of ownership exceed the costs. In this entry, I would like to delve into the details here.
Understanding the Arguments Made by Climate Change Adaptation Pessimists: Part One
Climate change adaptation refers to our individual and collective ability to cope with Mother Nature’s more intense weather punches in terms of extreme heat, drought, fire, flood and many other place based risks.
The Interesting Economics Related to the Marginal Cost of Avoiding Heat Exposure
This has been a very hot summer.
"The Water Cooler" and Spontaneous Face to Face Interaction in a Hybrid-WFH Economy
Is face to face interaction over-rated? I am not talking about participating in the service economy (i.e getting a haircut), romance, friends and family interaction. I am talking about workplace face to face interactions and the vaunted "Water Cooler" (WC).
How Will the Rise of WFH Help Us to Adapt to Climate Change?
Millions of American workers engaged in Work from Home (WFH) during the pandemic. WFH helped us to adapt to the risk of disease contagion. Going forward, WFH will also helps us to adapt to the rising climate risks we now face.
USC Economics Faculty Hiring Since 2015
I joined the USC Economics faculty in 2015 and Romain Ranciere also joined that year. Permit me to list the impressive scholars who have subsequently joined our faculty.
The New New Geography of Jobs
The Los Angeles Times rejected my piece that I present below. Of course, I'm trying to sell my new 2022 Going Remote book!!
The New New Geography of Jobs
LeBron James joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018. He wanted to live and work in Los Angeles.
Connecting the Dots: The Common Themes Between My Three Recent Books
Tomorrow, the University of California Press will publish my Going Remote book. In February 2021, Johns Hopkins Press published my Co-authored "Unlocking the Potential of Post-Industrial Cities" and in March 2021, Yale University Press published my book; "Adapting to Climate Change".
The Simple Microeconomics of Adapting to Real Estate Damage Caused by Flooding
The New York Times has published a good opinion piece by a Professor of English on the unintended consequences of federal subsidies and regulations for living in flood plains.
In this brief piece, I am not talking about surviving a flood.
The Role of Qualitative Data in Academic Field Experiment Research
This will be a "big think" blog post that shares my thinking about this March 2022 Nature Human Behavior paper titled "The data revolution in social science needs qualitative research".
Permit me to focus on one example. Consider a sample of 5,000 equally talented and ambitious 18 year olds.
My Growing Set of Podcasts Discussing my April 2022 Going Remote book
While I don't write best selling books, I do like my books! Amazon sells them here. In April 2022, my Going Remote book was published. This book studies the urban and labor economic issues related to persistent Work from Home (or work from anywhere) going forward.
Marketing My Four Amazon Economics E-Books that Sell for $1 Each
Most economists do not write books. The profession does not reward book authors and not every book sells like Freakonomics or Why Nations Fail.
The Consequences of Banks Pursuing a "Double Bottom Line" as the Federal Reserve Prioritizes Climate Change Risks
China features state owned enterprises (SOEs) that pursue a "double bottom line". They simultaneously seek to earn profit and to please the powerful Central Government. Relative to their private sector counterparts, these Chinese SOE firms receive special treatment.
Applied Game Theory and the Medium Term Reputation Gains from the Recent China-USA Trade War
The new issue of the Economist includes an excellent Free Exchange column titled Lose-Lose Ordeal with the heading; "New research counts the costs of the Sino-American trade war".
How Do We Nudge "Behavioral" Decision Makers to Adapt to Emerging Climate Risks?
An excellent new NBER Working Paper titled "Mandated vs. Voluntary Adaptation to Natural Disasters: The Case of U.S Wildfires" has been published.
