Assorted Links (8/13/2013)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading (and podcasts and videos I have been listening to and viewing) lately:

BBC – Tim Harford: Pop-Up Ideas

www.bbc.co.uk

Economist Tim Harford tackles important problems (e.g., how to foster innovation, alleviate kidney shortages, avoid nuclear war, improve environmental quality, etc.) one theorem at a time!

Now Let’s Try Real Student Aid Reform

www.cato.org

“Federal student aid is largely self-defeating when it comes to prices, and likely hurts low-income people more than anyone else.”

This article does a nice job of explaining how subsidies end up hurting the very people that they are intended to help. In the case of higher ed financing, subsidies which are intended to benefit students end up getting captured instead by colleges and universities in the form of higher prices for higher education than would otherwise exist in the absence of such subsidies…

Americans Are Far More Compassionate than “Socially Conscious” Europeans

www.cato.org

“Turns out that “selfish and greedy” Americans are the most generous people in the developed world.”

Gene-Sequencing Transforming Cancer Treatment

online.wsj.com

“A growing number of cancer practices are sequencing the DNA of tumors to uncover their genetic abnormalities. The aim: to pair a drug with the specific mutation fueling a patients disease. UC San Francisco’s Dr. Trever Bivona discusses.”

Weingast on the Violence Trap

www.econtalk.org

This is a remarkable podcast which manages to offer solutions for the world’s problems as well as provide a sweeping overview of world history over the past 300+ years; as viewed through the lens of political economy. After listening to this podcast, I felt as if I had missed my calling by pursuing a financial economics rather than a political science academic career!

Here’s the summary (from the EconTalk website) of Russ Roberts’ “Violence Trap” interview with Stanford Political Science professor Barry Weingast:

“Barry Weingast, the Ward C. Krebs Family Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and a Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the role of violence and the threat of violence in maintaining destructive economic policies that reduce growth and development. Weingast argues that the threat of violence encourages leaders to create monopolies and other unproductive policies to pay off special interests that would otherwise threaten a coup or revolution. Weingast shows there is a surprising amount of violent regime change in modern times and discusses how this discourages growth-enhancing economic policies. The conversation closes with an analysis of similar ideas in Book III of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.”

Cronies and capitols

www.economist.com

The Economist writes, “Businesspeople have become too influential in government”.

The Budget Sequester Is a Success

online.wsj.com

“Good news–now that Obama’s spending blitz is over, the deficit is on the path to drop steadily, writes Stephen Moore.”

5 Myths About Libertarians

reason.com

“What you think you know is wrong.”

The Problem With Federal Food-Labeling Laws

reason.com

“Why markets are superior to government mandates when it comes to food labeling.”

Take Back Your Pregnancy

online.wsj.com

“Modern pregnancy comes with a long list of strict rules, but does it have to? Economist Emily Oster examines the data and finds room for choice amid the familiar limits.”

Emily Oster is particularly skilled at using statistical methods in a way that enables her to differentiate between actual causation and mere correlation.  As a case in point, Professor Oster’s explanation of the apparent correlation between coffee consumption and problem pregnancies is masterful; quoting from this article,

“We know that nausea is a sign of a healthy pregnancy, but … it also causes women to avoid coffee. This means that the pregnant women who drink a lot of coffee also are more likely to be the ones who aren’t experiencing nausea. So here we may well be mistaking a correlation for an underlying cause: The women who drink less coffee have fewer problems not because they limit their caffeine intake but because they tend to suffer from nausea, which inhibits coffee drinking.”

Got a great health plan? Get ready to kiss it goodbye

money.msn.com

“If your insurance comes from your employer, expect some painful changes related to Obamacare. Companies will pay a steep price for offering ‘Cadillac’ plans.”

Here’s a direct quote from the transcript of a speech that President Obama gave at an American Medical Association meeting on June 15, 2009 (source: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/06/15/obama-if-you-like-your-doctor-you-can-keep-your-doctor/):

“I know that there are millions of Americans who are content with their health care coverage – they like their plan and they value their relationship with their doctor. And that means that no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what. My view is that health care reform should be guided by a simple principle: fix what’s broken and build on what works.”

Thomas Sowell – The Left’s Central Delusion

nationalreview.com

“Its devotion to central planning has endured from the French Revolution to Obamacare.”

Pindyck on Climate Change

www.econtalk.org

This is one of the best EconTalk episodes ever. Here’s the description of this podcast episode:

“Robert Pindyck of MIT talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the challenges of global warming for policy makers. Pindyck argues that while there is little doubt about the existence of human-caused global warming via carbon emissions, there is a great deal of doubt about the size of the effects on temperature and the size of the economic impact of warmer climate. This leads to a dilemma for policy-makers over how to proceed. Pindyck suggests that a tax or some form of carbon emission reduction is a good idea as a precautionary measure, despite the uncertainty.”

Pindyck also notes that other potential catastrophes such as bioterrorism, nuclear terrorism, and mega-viruses are more threatening than climate change, because they may happen sooner and could impose much larger costs upon society…

Don’t Mess with Taxes

www.thedailyshow.com

John Oliver’s 3 part (~10 minute) parody of the US tax code from Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” is not only highly entertaining but also quite informative…

The IRS Attack on Political Speech

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, former FEC commissioner Bradley Smith says that the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS is part of the long-time assault by campaign-finance scolds on the First Amendment.”

This (non-gated) WSJ article explains important subtleties associated with how non-profit organizations “qualify” under various sections of the Internal Revenue code (specifically, Sections 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and 527) and implications for First Amendment rights…

Obama’s False History of Public Investment

online.wsj.com

Quoting from this WSJ article,

“In all of these examples, building infrastructure was never the engine of growth, but rather a lagging indicator of growth that had already occurred in the private sector. And when the infrastructure was built, it was often best done privately, at least until the market grew so large as to demand a wider public role, as with the need for an interstate-highway system in the mid 1950s.”

 China–EU Solar Trade Agreement Shuffles Winners and Losers

www.cato.org

“The international solar panel market is a big fat mess, and this agreement merely shifts government-granted privilege from one group of special interests to another.”

Members Only

online.wsj.com

“How the White House is weaseling Congress out of ObamaCare.”

The Scientism of Steven Pinker

douthat.blogs.nytimes.com

“In which an attempted rehabilitation of the term “scientism” actually vindicates scientism’s critics.”

How to Help Fast-Food Workers

reason.com

“Raising the minimum wage will hurt, not help.”

Return of the Jesus Wars

www.nytimes.com

“Reza Aslan, Fox News and the Christianities that might have been.”

Assorted Links (8/1/2013)

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

How ObamaCare Inflates the Cost of Cancer Treatment

online.wsj.com

American Enterprise Institute resident fellow Scott Gottleib on how ObamaCare hurts cancer patients. See http://bit.ly/1aYUFgN for a PDF copy of the Wall Street Journal article that this video interview is based upon.

How Obama Neglects the Poor

online.wsj.com

Quoting from today’s WSJ op-ed by AEI President Art Brooks, “”Growing inequality isn’t just morally wrong,” Mr. Obama said on July 24 in Illinois. “It’s bad economics.” That is abundantly true, but not in the way he intended. He meant income inequality. But the real problem—and crisis—is declining opportunity.”

Inside the Phone-Plan Pricing Puzzle

online.wsj.com

Quoting from this article, “The four major carriers offer a total of nearly 700 combinations of smartphone plans—a family of five alone would have more than 250 options to choose from… “It is always a cumbersome, somewhat root canalish experience… I consider myself to be pretty educated but it makes me want to stick a fork in my eye,” said Erin Riordan, of Naperville, Ill., who has five children and manages an account with six lines from AT&T that produces a $495 monthly bill.”

Is Education Nationalization Falling Apart?

www.cato.org

“Education nationalizers must realize that Americans, largely, do not want overt federal control over what their schools teach and how their kids are tested.”

Obama’s Creeping Authoritarianism

online.wsj.com

“Daniel Henninger writes that President Obama is moving away from checks and balances toward a system of laws imposed by a national leader.”

A CEO’s-Eye View of ObamaCare

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, CKE Restaurants CEO Andrew Puzder says it’s no wonder the employer mandate for ObamaCare was delayed, because it’s hard to see how it will work.”

Morris Fiorina on Polarization, Stability, and the State of the Electorate

www.econtalk.org

This podcast provides a very compelling analysis of the ongoing polarization in US politics. Quoting from this podcast summary, “Morris Fiorina, the Wendt Family Professor of Political Science and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow at Stanford University, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the state of the American electorate and recent election results. Fiorina argues that while the Republican and Democratic parties are more extreme than they were in the past, there has been only modest change in the character of the American electorate. Fiorina discusses these differences in light of recent election results which show an inability of either party to sustain control of the Presidency or the Congress.”

Now That It’s in the Broadband Game, Google Flip-Flops on Network Neutrality

www.wired.com

“In a dramatic about-face on a key internet issue yesterday, Google told the FCC that the network neutrality rules Google once championed don’t give citizens the right to run servers on their home broadband connections, and that the Google Fiber network is perfectly within its rights to prohibit customers from attaching the legal devices of their choice to its network.”

Detroit’s High Property Taxes

www.cato.org

“The Detroit tax rates are generally twice as high as the U.S. averages.”

Overturning Bloomberg’s Big Beverage Ban, Appeals Court Notes That Mountain Dew Is Not Malaria

reason.com

“Today a state appeals court panel unanimously ruled that the New York Board of Health exceeded its regulatory authority when it enacted Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s big beverage ban.”

Stigler on Obama

online.wsj.com

“(Economics Nobel Laureate) George Stigler said the important questions are rather (1) Does such minimum wage legislation diminish poverty? and (2) Are there efficient alternatives? The answers are no and yes respectfully.”

Francis S. Collins: By the Book

www.nytimes.com

“As an atheist evolving to agnosticism, and seeking answers to whether or not belief in God is potentially rational, my life was turned upside down 35 years ago by reading C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity.” —Francis Collins

North Carolina Ends Teacher Tenure, Teachers Will Now Have to Be Good at Their Jobs to Keep Them

reason.com

“Republican legislators in North Carolina have pushed through a proposal to revoke lifetime tenure for the state’s public school teachers.”

Maybe falling homeownership isn’t so bad

money.msn.com

“It’s now at an 18-year low, reversing President George W. Bush’s push to boost ‘the American Dream.’ Too bad it was a nightmare for millions.”

A Big, Tiny Deal on Student Loans

www.cato.org

“Taxpayer-backed loans that go to almost anyone have been a sweet-sounding disaster, encouraging people to consume education they aren’t willing or able to complete; prodding people who are college-ready to demand things that have little or nothing to do with education; and fueling rampant price inflation throughout the system.”

Aside From That, Mrs. Lincoln, How’s ObamaCare Implementation Going?

www.cato.org

“The Washington Post overlooks an iceberg-sized hole in ObamaCare’s hull.”

Narlikar on Fair Trade and Free Trade

www.econtalk.org

The podcast provides some very interesting (and somewhat counterintuitive) thought experiments concerning the economics of the fair trade movement. For any followers of my blog who might be interested in this topic (as well as the broader topic of development economics), let me also recommend another podcast featuring Duke University economist Mike Munger on this topic; he also outlines various unintended consequences of fair trade (see http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/12/munger_on_fair.html). Finally, there’s the monograph by an economist named Victor Claar entitled “Fair Trade? Its Prospects as a Poverty Solution” (see http://amzn.to/L9ihUb).

Feds Seize $841,883 from Used Car Dealer Accused of—Well, Nothing

reason.com

“Reza Ella, an Iranian-American who owns a car dealership in Albuquerque, New Mexico, may or may not be a criminal. Federal prosecutors don’t know or won’t say. But last September, they seized $841,883 from Ella anyway because the man deposited it in increments of less than $10,000.”

The college-athletics business: Basket cases

www.economist.com

“Student athletes seek a cut of their sports’ profits.”

Retirement benefits: Who pays the bill?

www.economist.com

“DETROIT may be an extreme case of fiscal incontinence. But its bankruptcy highlights a long-term problem faced by many American cities and states; how to fund generous pension and health-care promises that are no longer affordable.”

Fire with Fire

youtube.com

“Both cancer and HIV are two of the deadliest diseases that afflict humanity. But what if there was a way you could turn them against each other? These incredible scientists engineered the HIV virus to seek and destroy cancer cells.”

Have prisoners learned not to snitch?

timharford.com

“They finally tested the ‘prisoner’s dilemma’ on actual prisoners – and the results were not what you would expect”