Assorted Links (4/30/2014)

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

The Piketty Panic

Upon reading one of Professor Krugman’s latest missives about Thomas Piketty’s new book entitled “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” I was fascinated to learn that just because I am not philosophically favorably inclined toward some of Professor Piketty’s policy recommendations (e.g., the imposition of a global wealth tax), this apparently means that I must therefore be an “apologist for America’s oligarchs”…

First Thoughts on Piketty

Harvard econmist Greg Mankiw provides an excellent synopsis of the strengths as well as weaknesses of Piketty’s new book on inequality…

In Illinois, Tax Increases Become an Article of Faith

“In The Wall Street Journal, Heather Williams discusses a religious coalition that is advocating progressive income taxation for Illinois.”

The Jewish Conductor and the Polish Pope

“In The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Kaminski interviews conductor Gilbert Levine about his experiences with Pope John Paul II.”

Partners in Ethanol Crime

“The Wall Street Journal writes that the corn-fuel mandate has been an invitation to mass fraud.”

Why Obama’s Keystone opposition reeks of politics

“There are at least 100 million reasons why the president has held up the decision on the Keystone pipeline, POLITICO’s Ben White says.”

How to Energize a Lackluster Recovery

Excellent tutorial on the economics of taxation by Stanford University economist Ed Lazear. “In The Wall Street Journal, Edward Lazear writes that allowing the full and immediate deductibility of capital investment would spur economic growth and raise wages.”

Hedging Away Our Future

“Al Lewis comes across a new Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco study that says hedge funds may contribute more to instability in the financial system than previously thought. Well, duh!”

How Americans Die

“Americans die in smaller portions each year, but what kills us is changing.”

Bubble to Bust to Recovery: Housing and the U.S. Economy

Fantastic data visualization that succinctly summarizes the causes of the housing bubble and what is happening now as real estate markets recover…

Google now spends more on lobbying than almost every other corporation

A case study on rent seeking, provided by none other than Google!…

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