Here’s a list of articles and videos that I have been reading and viewing lately:
Review & Outlook: Krueger vs. Obama
professional.wsj.com
I love it whenever empirical academic studies find evidence in support of common sense; this article notes that Princeton economics professor Alan Krueger’s labor economics research indicates, among other things, that “…paying people not to work increases the incentive not to work and thus tends to encourage longer periods of joblessness.” Professor Krueger is the incoming Chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors. One can only hope that President Obama might take Dr. Krueger’s scholarly insights into consideration as he contemplates re-upping 99 week unemployment insurance benefits…
Mike Bloomberg and the End of Tolerance
professional.wsj.com
“William McGurn writes in The Wall Street Journal on liberal intolerance and why New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says there’s no room for religious leaders on 9/11.”
65% of All Adults Use Social Media
www.vogelitlawblog.com
“Only 5% of all adults used Social Media in 2005 when Pew Research first asked, and as ofAugust 2011 Pew now reports more than 65% of all adults use Social Media…”
www.ted.com
“TED Talks In this short talk, psychologist Dan Ariely tells two personal stories that explore scientific conflict of interest: How the pursuit of knowledge and insight can be affected, consciously or not, by shortsighted personal goals.”
Beyond the Gold and Bond Bubbles
online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, David Malpass asks why the Federal Reserve isn’t promoting sound money and fiscal restraint to improve incentives to invest in growing businesses.”
Steve Jobs and the Death of the Personal Computer
online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, Michael Malone writes that after the revolution wrought by the Apple impresario who resigned last week, even Hewlett-Packard is out of the game.”
Justice’s New War Against Lenders
online.wsj.com
“Mary Kissel writes in The Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration is repeating mistakes of the past by intimidating banks into lending to minority borrowers at below-market rates, all in the name of combatting discrimination.”
Bank of Political Works
online.wsj.com
“The Wall Street Journal on a Fannie Mae for ‘infrastructure.’”
Krueger and the Minimum Wage
economics21.org
“Since President Obama has chosen Alan Krueger as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, attention is focusing on his academic career. Jonathan Chait for instance highlights one of his seminal papers written with David Card, which argued that hiking the minimum wage did not lower employment…”
Alternative Energy: The Bloom Box – 60 Minutes
www.cbsnews.com
“Large corporations in California have been testing a new device that can generate power on the spot, without being connected to the electric grid. They’re saying it’s efficient, clean, and saves them money.”
John Steele Gordon: A Short Primer on the National Debt
online.wsj.com
“Writing about the national debt in The Wall Street Journal, John Steel Gordon says that with a return to 1990s growth rates, the debt-to-GDP ratio could drop to 56.7%, about where it was in 2000.”