Regulation - does it raise costs or only shift costs?

This is an interesting piece for the general argument that it makes - if it isn't on the balance sheet is it still a cost?  The author argues, yet it is. 

Safety Regulators Don’t Add Costs. They Decide Who Pays Them. - NYTimes.com via kwout

Our Bungled Energy Policy

Nordhaus argues for Pigouvian taxes, particularly on our use of Coal to generate electricity, and points out that a U.S. only policy on oil consumption will not do - there needs to be a global system put into place to reduce consumption

Energy: Friend or Enemy? by William D. Nordhaus | The New York Review of Books via kwout

What to do about the Financial System

Perhaps this is the right answer, but it seems very unlikely to happen.

Too Big to Succeed - NYTimes.com via kwout

Coal's Law

I have long that a $1/gallon increase in the tax of gasoline would be a good idea, to encourage substitutes in consumption and production. I wonder if whether the U.S. should combat the artificial low value of the Renminbi via a tariff on coal, and encourage other exporting countries to do likewise. That would do much more for the environment than anything the Sierra Club might achieve.

Importing Coal, China Burns It as Others Stop - NYTimes.com via kwout

Putting things off

There is an implicit argument in this piece about giving students things that are inherently interesting to read instead of other pieces that are a grind to work through.

What we can learn from procrastination : The New Yorker via kwout

Bernanke explains the Fed's new move to stimulate the economy. I wonder what the unemployment rate will be 18 months hence. If this doesn't put a dent in that rate, the politics will be volatile.

Ben S. Bernanke - What the Fed did and why: supporting the recovery and sustaining price stability via kwout

George Soros on the Macro Economy

Interesting analysis the puts together the value of the Renminbi with government spending in the U.S. I wonder if via trade negotiations we might get Republicans in Congress to sign off on Soros' ideas, especially if packaged by somebody else.

The Real Danger to the Economy by George Soros | The New York Review of Books via kwout

Cheating and School

This is a disturbing post, one that I believe we should talk openly about, though that is unlikely to happen.

Cheating in Science, Part II: School is a Breeding Ground for Cheaters | Psychology Today via kwout

Warren Buffet Predictions from 1999

This is not news, but it is an interesting read.

Mr. Buffett on the Stock Market The most celebrated of investors says stocks can't possibly meet the public's expectations. As for the Internet? He notes how few people got rich from two other transforming industries, auto and aviation. - November 22, ... via kwout

It's about time

China is finally tightening its own currency, which eventually should impact our trade imbalance and be a positive for the U.S. economy, though my own portfolio took a bit of a hit today as a consequence. It's also interesting how this was done. I suppose within the higher echelons of Chinese economic policy making, decisions of this sort have to be seen as coming from internal forces only, not hoist on the Chinese by the rest of the world, particularly the Americans.

China’s Central Bank Raises Interest Rates - NYTimes.com via kwout

Does this explain why there were so many foreclosures?

I'm wondering if the explanation is faulty here. On the properties that where the banks did foreclose, what happened to them? Are they still on the banks' balance sheets? Or were they able to resell these properties? That seems pretty critical to explain what happened, but the piece provides no evidence on it, one way or the other. The piece is good at explaining that those working on foreclosures were for the most part incapable of acting with discretion.

Banks Ignored Signs of Trouble in Foreclosures - NYTimes.com via kwout

Yippee!

I took a course from Dale Mortensen - Micro Foundations of Macroeconomics - and he was a member of my dissertation committee. So I'm very pleased with his selection. Here is a little story about him circa 1979, when I was a graduate student and he became the chair of the department at Northwestern.

The department had recently moved into Andersen Hall from the three Houses it had occupied and while the new surroundings were clearly "better" and more efficient they were a little less personal. Dale wanted to promote collegiality in the department and did so in a variety of ways. One of those directly involved me. Dale floated me some start up capital (maybe $10) to buy a case of beer or two and some ice for a Friday afternoon TGIF to be held in the outside atrium area and interior adjoining in the basement. I believe we asked for donations of 50 cents per beer to be put into a coffee can. The proceeds from the sales would cover the purchase for the following week. At the time Evanston was dry and you couldn't get a drink at an establishment in town without ordering some food with it. So this was slightly risque. It was a risk that had a big payoff. Eventually it became a habit where a good chunk of the department, both faculty and graduate students, would participate, a way to blow of some steam and make the place more welcoming. Dale was always innovating, even if much of that stayed off the Nobel Committee's radar.

3 Share Nobel Economics Prize for Labor Market Analysis - NYTimes.com via kwout

The Causes Of The Financial Crisis

Even if you don't like Krugman, this is a good read. And he poses some puzzles for the monetarists to respond to - such as why was there a bubble in commercial real estate?

The Slump Goes On: Why? | The New York Review of Books via kwout

Charitable Disposition and Income

Interesting piece that argues we get less generous regarding charitable giving as we get richer, something to reflect on.

The Way We Live Now - The Charitable-Giving Divide - NYTimes.com via kwout

Transocean skating on the edge

There is an interesting bit in here about multinationals and whether they are "above the law" in the various countries they operate. There is also the question of whether taking risks in deep see drilling is at all related to taking other sorts of business risks.

Transocean Is a Driller That Tends to Test the Rules - NYTimes.com via kwout