Assorted Links (5/15/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

The Coastal Conundrum
Source: www.american.com
“The large domestic outflow from coastal metropolises is disturbing, and suggests a vote of no-confidence in our formerly fastest-growing metro areas.” 

The Weekend Interview with Thomas Hoenig: The Fed’s Monetary Dissident – WSJ.com
Source: online.wsj.com
 
Source: www.project-syndicate.org
 
How Much Transparency Do We Want in Healthcare Pricing?
Source: www.american.com
 
John Steele Gordon: Incentives vs. Government Waste – WSJ.com
Source: online.wsj.com
 

Assorted Links (5/13/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Avoiding Fiscal Meltdown « Forbes.com’s StreetTalk

blogs.forbes.com

“There’s only only one way to achieve real deficit reduction: substantial cuts in government expenditure, especially lower government retirement and health benefits.”

Making Finance Easy to Fix, Not Hard to Break — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“In the Bizzaro world of Washington, the narrative labels it ‘anti-reform’ to oppose a bill that would further entrench the people largely to blame for the financial crisis.”

Talking Sense About Global Warming – Project Syndicate

www.project-syndicate.org

“In February, 14 distinguished climate scientists, economists, and policy experts came together to discuss how to tackle global warming. The group’s report, “The Hartwell Paper,” outlines a new direction for climate policy after the collapse of last year’s attempts to negotiate a global climate deal.”

Clifford S. Asness and Aaron Brown: The Treasury-Financial Complex – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Clifford Asness and Aaron Brown of AQR Capital Management write that the Dodd bill is perfectly designed to create the largest and most powerful crony system in history.”

Ingrassia: Washington’s Bungling Auto Engineers – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, automotive journalist Paul Ingrassia notes that Congress is designing everything from the braking system in your next car to the loan with which you’ll finance it. Be very afraid.”

Dan Henninger: The We’re-Not-Europe Party – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Daniel Henninger writes in The Wall Street Journal that any U.S. politician purporting to run the presidency of the United States should be asked why the economic policies he or she is proposing won’t take us where Europe arrived this week.”

Puerto Rico, the 51st State? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“John Fund writes in The Wall Street Journal that Nancy Pelosi is trying to make add to her numbers by making Puerto Rico a state.”

Assorted Links (5/12/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Disaster unfolds slowly in the Gulf of Mexico – The Big Picture – Boston.com

www.boston.com

“In the three weeks since the April 20th explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the start of the subsequent massive (and ongoing) oil leak, many attempts have been made to contain and control the scale of the environmental disaster.”

PolitiFact | Will says Greece’s economy is same size as Dallas-Fort Worth’s

www.politifact.com

“During the May 9, 2010 edition of ABC’s This Week, commentator George Will sought to add some context to one of the previous week’s biggest stories — the financial troubles in Greece, which prompted a bailout by its European neighbors that drew protests in Athens and shook financial markets across …”

In-the-Red State — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“When we properly account for Social Security, our national deficit proves worse.”

Mahalanobis

mahalanobis.twoday.net

“Michael Fleming and Nicholas Klagge provide an overview of the U.S. dollar swap line program—a system of reciprocal currency arrangements with foreign central banks—introduced by the Federal Reserve in late 2007 to address global disruptions in dollar funding markets.”

Was There Good Reason for a Housing Boom? – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com

economix.blogs.nytimes.com

“At least part of the housing construction boom of the 2000s served a legitimate economic purpose, an economist writes.”

Larry Harris: How to Prevent Another Trading Panic – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, former SEC economist Larry Harris says that the SEC should require price limits for all buy and sell orders in electronic trading.”

Holman Jenkins: Welfare Wagons – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman Jenkins writes that the new electric cars from Chevy and Nissan are powered by taxpayer credits.”

Martin Feldstein: Extend the Bush Tax Cuts—For Now – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Martin Feldstein writes in The Wall Street Journal that deficits are a real problem but the recovery is still too fragile to choke off growth with higher rates.”

Fannie mae and Chris Dodd – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that Democrats leave Chris Dodd alone to defend Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

Michael B. Mukasey: Shahzad and the Pre-9/11 Paradigm – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey writes in The Wall Street Journal that in the 1990s we mocked the ineptness of jihadists and were confident civilian courts could handle them. Look where that got us.”

The Judge in the Gray Flannel Suit – Politics – The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

“What’s disturbing is that this is what our nomination process now selects for: someone who appears to be in favor of nothing except self-advancement. Then we complain when the most passionate advocates for ideas are the lunatic fringe.”

Why Are Cancer Costs Rising? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“People are living longer, but getting cancer.”

Nathan Myhrvold: Could this laser zap malaria? | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

“Nathan Myhrvold and team’s latest inventions — as brilliant as they are bold — remind us that the world needs wild creativity to tackle big problems like malaria. And just as that idea sinks in, he rolls out a live demo of a new, mosquito-zapping gizmo you have to see to believe.”

Assorted Links (5/11/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Did a Big Bet Help Trigger ‘Black Swan’ Stock Swoon? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“A tsunami of selling pressure that spread to nearly all parts of the market last Thursday may have had its roots in a single bearish bet.”

Euro-zone Bailout Spurs Moral-Hazard Fears – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“A €750 billion bailout package for euro-zone governments facing debt troubles has created another urgent challenge for European policy makers: how to keep free-spending governments in line.”

Depression 2010?

www.realclearpolitics.com

“It is now conventional wisdom that the world has avoided a second Great Depression. Governments and the economists who advise them learned the lessons of the 1930s. When the gravity of the financial crisis became apparent in late 2008, the response was swift and aggressive.”

The Welfare State’s Death Spiral

www.realclearpolitics.com

“What we’re seeing in Greece is the death spiral of the welfare state. This isn’t Greece’s problem alone, and that’s why its crisis has rattled global stock markets and threatens economic recovery.”

What Happened to Due Process?

www.campaignforliberty.com

“A bipartisan group of legislators have introduced a bill that would focus on stripping Americans of their citizenship if they are found to be involved in “terrorism”.”

Landscapers find workers choosing jobless pay

detnews.com

“In a state with the nation’s highest jobless rate, landscaping companies are finding some job applicants are rejecting work offers so they can continue collecting unemployment benefits.”

Garven comment: Here is some compelling anecdotal evidence concerning the unintended consequences of unemployment benefits. Believe it or not, insuring people against the financial consequences of unemployment can actually create more unemployment!

Game Theoretic aspects of racial segregation and executive compensation

I am a big fan of Presh Talwalkar’s Mind Your Decisions blogsite.  He often posts some very thought provoking entries on the general topic of game theory.  Anyway, in a recent entry entitled Game theory videos by Tim Harford, Presh points out a couple of particularly interesting YouTube videos on game theoretic aspects of racial segregation (see Youtube video: racial segregation, which is based upon the Schelling Segregation model) and executive compensation (see Youtube video: why your boss is overpaid , which is based upon tournament theory).

Assorted Links (5/10/2010

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

David McCourt: FCC Regulation of the Internet May Chill Investment in Broadband – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, David McCourt says the FCC’s determination to impose net neutrality regulations on ISP companies will make investments in broadband more uncertain.”

Fouad Ajami: Islam’s Nowhere Men – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Fouad Ajami notes that millions of young Muslim men like Faisal Shahzad are unsettled by a modern world they can neither master nor reject.”

ObamaCare’s Phony Medicaid ‘Deal’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, constitutional law professor Richard Epstein says that the new health law unconstitutionally coerces the states.”

Is It Too Big to Save? — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“If you’re only going to read one book on the financial crisis, this should be the one. ”

Shahzad’s Lesson: Foreclosed Is Forearmed – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, satirist Joe Queenan writes that history is littered with tales of men who turned to violence because of bad real-estate investments.”

Julius Caesar of the Internet – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that the Obama Administration’s attempt to regulate the Internet is unlawful and unnecessary.”

Global markets: So, about that crash | The Economist

www.economist.com

“ON THURSDAY afternoon, between 2:30 and 3:00, the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered one of the largest and most dramatic swings in its long history. In the space of just a few minutes, the Dow went from being down around 300 points to being down nearly 1,000 points.”

Jeffrey Miron » Blog Archive » Regulating the Internet

jeffreymiron.com

“In a move that will stoke a battle over the future of the Internet, the federal government plans to propose regulating broadband lines under decades-old rules designed for traditional phone networks.”

Kim Strassel: Financial Reform Goldman Can Love – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kimberley Strassel notes that the Democrats’ anti-Wall Street rhetoric conceals a major fund-raising campaign. The actual financial reforms will not seriously damage the major players.”

What the Hell Just Happened in the Market? – Business – The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

“For those who don’t have Bloomberg News on 24/7, the Dow just dropped almost 1,000 points…”

Michael Boskin: Time to Junk the Corporate Tax – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, MIchael Boskin writes that the U.S.has the second-highest corporate income tax rate of any advanced economy, and that reforming it would boost the economy and future business investment.”

Dan Henninger: Blame Obama. Why Not? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Dan Henninger writes that as the oil-spill cleanup shows, some things are beyond even Barack Obama’s belief in the powers of government.”

Another Fine Mess – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“John Fund writes in The Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration was caught unprepared for the oil spill.”

Why Our Current Budget Situation Is a Crisis — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“There is no precedent for reducing the ratio of debt to GDP by simply growing our way out of it.”

Robert G. Wilmers: What About Reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Robert G. Wilmers, the chairman and CEO of M&T Bank Corporation, says that Fannie and Freddie need to be reformed, lest we have another financial crisis down the road.”

Drilling in Deep Water – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that a ban on offshore production won’t mean fewer oil spills.”

Fred Barnes: Democrats at Ramming Speed – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Fred Barnes writes that the White House wants to pass as much legislation as possible before losing its big majorities, no matter how unpopular its proposals are.”

Brian M. Carney: A Tale of Three Cities – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Editorial Page Editor Brian M. Carney writes in The Wall Street Journal that Athens, London and Washington each respond to looming insolvency in telling ways.”

Esther Duflo: Social experiments to fight poverty | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

“Alleviating poverty is more guesswork than science, and lack of data on aid’s impact raises questions about how to provide it. But Clark Medal-winner Esther Duflo says it’s possible to know which development efforts help and which hurt — by testing solutions with randomized trials.”

Assorted Links (5/3/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Financial innovation: You can’t stop progress | The Economist
www.economist.com

“I READ an interesting story last week about a French banker. His bank relied on new financial innovations and complex transactions. The innovations allowed the bank and its clients to become highly leveraged.”

Will the Gulf Oil Spill Be This Generation’s Three Mile Island? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com
freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“Is it the end for offshore drilling?”

An Autopsy of the U.S. Financial System
papers.nber.org

Here’s the abstract for this paper by Brown University economist Ross Levine:

“In this postmortem, I find that the design, implementation, and maintenance of financial policies during the period from 1996 through 2006 were primary causes of the financial system’s demise. The evidence is inconsistent with the view that …the collapse of the financial system was caused only by the popping of the housing bubble and the herding behavior of financiers rushing to create and market increasingly complex and questionable financial products. Rather, the evidence indicates that regulatory agencies were aware of the growing fragility of the financial system associated with their policies during the decade before the crisis and yet chose not to modify those policies.”

Jim Owens: A Centrist Agenda for Economic Growth – WSJ.com
online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Caterpillar Inc. CEO Jim Owens says that freer trade and lower taxes would help restore robust economic growth and preserve the U.S. position as global competitive leader.”

John Taylor: How to Avoid a ‘Bailout Bill’ – WSJ.com
online.wsj.com

“John Taylor writes in The Wall Street Journal that a new bankruptcy process is the right way to deal with failing financial institutions, not a permanent bailout fund.”

Mary Anastasia O’Grady: Chavez Decaffeinates Venezuela With Price Controls – WSJ.com
online.wsj.com

“Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes in her Americas column for The Wall Street Journal that coffee shortages in Venezuela have predictably followed Hugo Chávez’s price controls.”

How Bad Are Our Graduation Rates? — The American, A Magazine of Ideas
www.american.com

“U.S. colleges will be challenged to achieve President Obama’s goal of America once again having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”

Jeffrey Miron » Blog Archive » Fannie and Freddie Keep Rolling Along
jeffreymiron.com

“Government-related entities backed 96.5% of all home loans during the first quarter, up from 90% in 2009, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. The increase was driven by a jump in the share of loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-owned housing-finance giants.”

Economic View – A Value-Added Tax Offers Much to Love — and Hate – NYTimes.com
www.nytimes.com

“Liberals and conservatives are again debating the efficacy and fairness of using a value-added tax to help solve the nation’s economic problems.”