Economics

Archive for Economics

Join Me in “Adventures in Energy Economics”

Today at Mises.org I have an infomercial for my class, starting this coming Tuesday, on energy economics. The main description: The weekly lectures will run from July 2 through July 30. The first week will address the question, “Will we run out of energy?” We will cover the standard mainstream treatment (based on the classic […]

It’s Easy to Be Right When You Don’t Admit You Were Wrong

I’m going to be laying into my two favorite bloggers–Paul Krugman and Scott Sumner–for their slippery handling of the recent rise in Treasury yields. As I’ve said several times on this blog, I think Krugman and Scott do this a lot (Krugman is more annoying about it); it’s just that this is a particularly obvious […]

Glenn “Kane” Jacobs on Austrian Economics and Other Topics

This occurred a few miles from my house. I took my 8-year-old, we got the obligatory picture with Glenn (I at least waited for someone else to ask him, before I did), and then, a few moments before the talk began, my son accidentally dumped a full glass of lemonade all over himself (and my […]

My EconLib Article on Bitcoin

At EconLib I have an article on Bitcoin. The first half is based on the article I already posted here with Silas Barta, but the second half has new stuff, sure to enrage half of you: Economically, the chief attraction of Bitcoin is its mathematically guaranteed scarcity. Even a pure commodity like gold could eventually […]

Potpourri

==> I realize this is childish, but these naughty K-Mart commercials (here and here) made me chuckle. (Thanks to Sam T.) ==> The CBO came out with a report last week, which many will think makes a slam-dunk case for a carbon tax. But using the very same CBO report, I can show how dubious […]

Optimal Stopping Time

This is a real thing in economics. Applied to “provocative” (not my term) essays, the rule is this: When you read: “the relationship between Nietzsche and the free-market right…is thus one of elective affinity rather than direct influence, at the level of idiom rather than policy,” …you can safely stop, and turn to something else. […]

Noah Smith Shows the Power of Framing

Noah puts “austerians” on the couch: [M]aybe people like the idea of austerity because they think an economic stagnation is our best chance to address what they perceive to be our long-term challenges. Allowing a crisis might be less terrible than wasting it. Now, when stated that way, the idea sounds kind of silly – […]

Potpourri

==> An interesting story of a professor who purposely let his class “cheat” on a Game Theory exam in order to teach game theory. ==> Can’t remember if I already linked to this: The formal details of my June 3 debate with Warren Mosler, at Columbia University, moderated by John Carney of CNBC. (Yes it’s […]