Category Archives: Assorted Links

Risk off: Why some people are more cautious with their finances than others

One of the feature articles in the current issue of The Economist is entitled “Risk off: Why some people are more cautious with their finances than others”. Here are some key takeaways from this article:

1. Economists have long known that people are risk-averse; yet the willingness to run risks varies enormously among individuals and over time.

2. Genetics explains a third of the difference in risk-taking; e.g., a Swedish study of twins finds that identical twins had “… a closer propensity to invest in shares” than fraternal ones.

3. Upbringing, environment and experience also matter; e.g., . “…the educated and the rich are more daring financially. So are men, but apparently not for genetic reasons”.

4. People’s financial history has a strong impact on their taste for risk; e.g., “… people who experienced high (low) returns on the stockmarket earlier in life were, years later, likelier to report a higher (lower) tolerance for risk, to own (not own) shares and to invest a bigger (smaller) slice of their assets in shares.”

5. “Exposure to economic turmoil appears to dampen people’s appetite for risk irrespective of their personal financial losses.” Furthermore, a low tolerance for risk is linked to past emotional trauma.

Assorted Links (12/23/2013)

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

How to Be Happy

www.bloomberg.com

“The head of the think tank where I work believes he has discovered the secret of happiness, and he wants to share it with everyone. Don’t worry: I’m not in a cult.”

Obama Administration Makes Secretive Last-Minute Deadline Change to Obamacare

reason.com

“Deadlines? Who needs ’em? Not when it comes to Obamacare anyway. Today was set to be the final day to sign up for coverage that begins on January 1.”

Incompetence

blogs.wsj.com

Brilliant essay from Peggy Noonan… “The alarming news about the Obama administration.”

The Late, Great American WASP

online.wsj.com

“The old U.S. ruling class had plenty of problems, but are we really better off under today’s meritocracy?”

Obama’s Misguided Obsession With Inequality

online.wsj.com

This article calls to mind the famous Benjamin Disraeli quote, “There are three types of lies — lies, damn lies, and statistics”. “Chris Christie economic adviser Robert Grady writes that the President uses statistics that ignore taxes and transfer payments. Faster growth is what the poor really need.”

America’s 8 million missing jobs –in one chart

www.aei-ideas.org

From the Economic Policy Institute: “In November 2013, the labor market had 1.3 million fewer jobs than when the recession began in December 2007…”

The Most Grumble-Filled Time of the Year

online.wsj.com

“Christmas has something for everyone—even those who see Scrooge as a role model.”

Flurry of tweaks to Affordable Care Act leaves insurers rattled

online.wsj.com

Tweaks to Health Law Rattle Insurers (and consumers)… “A spree of surprise changes to the health-care law in recent weeks has rattled insurers, who say the Obama administration’s pronouncements could undermine the law’s new marketplaces.”

Obama’s extreme use of executive discretion

washingtonpost.com

“Obama ignores the separation of powers to suit his purposes. Will Congress challenge him?”

Story of the year

washingtonpost.com

“The nation finally wakes up to how radical Obamacare is.”

Obamacare’s Atomistic Individualism

www.cato.org

“Obamacare is pushing people away from cooperation and community and toward atomistic individualism.”

Lessons from Dutch Welfare Reform

www.cato.org

“Welfare advocates regularly urge Americans to look to the European welfare state as a model. At least in the case of the Netherlands, they might be on to something.”

Did the Three Kings Bear Gift Receipts?

www.washingtonpost.com

This essay by AEI’s Kevin Hassett is an “oldie but goodie”. On a related note, be sure to check out the results of a poll of the nations top economists in they they provide responses to the following proposition: “Giving specific presents as holiday gifts is inefficient, because recipients could satisfy their preferences much better with cash.” (@ http://www.igmchicago.org/igm-economic-experts-panel/poll-results?SurveyID=SV_1z4X7kmHnVYo28d)…

They Know Not What They Do—Philip Jenkins on the world’s most persecuted faith.

online.wsj.com

“Philip Jenkins reviews John L. Allen Jr.’s “The Global War on Christians: Dispatches From the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution.””

Venezuela Is the Next Zimbabwe

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Leopoldo Martinez writes that as inflation rages, Nicolás Maduro seizes private farms and companies, arresting businessmen for ‘speculation.'”

The Most Memorable Words of 2013

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Declarations columnist Peggy Noonan recalls the year’s most memorable statements, including a billionaire’s worry: ‘Every time I hear the stock market went up I know the guillotines are coming closer.'”

Merry Christmas from Baylor University: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”

youtube.com

Hear the McLane Carillon ring in the Christmas season from Founders Mall to all of Baylor Nation in this performance of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”!

Chris Christie dresses down ‘Pajama boy’

www.politico.com

“New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie co-opted the lampooned “Pajama Boy” image promoting Obamacare in order to send his own message about volunteering.”

Obamacare’s Top 10 Constitutional Violations

www.cato.org

“There’s much more to the ACA’s problems than the individual mandate-tax, botched website, and not being able to keep your policy.”

America’s Polygamous Future

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Charlotte Allen writes that a Utah court ruling on Mormons is likely to spread to Muslims and others.”

Obama’s Prozac Presidency

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Wonder Land columnist Daniel Henninger writes that for Barack Obama, 21st-century Americans live with a wolf at every door.”

Unmasking the Mortgage Interest Deduction: Who Benefits and by How Much? 2013 Update

reason.org

“The case for supporting the mortgage interest deduction has been resoundingly refuted, both as an effective tool for social engineering and as fiscally responsible tax policy. It is time to end support for the mortgage interest deduction.”

Gallup: Record High (72 Percent) Say “Big Government” Biggest Threat To US

reason.com

“When Gallup first began asking the question in 1965 only 35 percent of Americans said “big government” would be the biggest threat to the country.”

The Right Minimum Wage: $0.00 – New York Times

www.nytimes.com

Quoting from this (dated, yet relevant New York Times article from 25 years ago), “The idea of using a minimum wage to overcome poverty is old, honorable – and fundamentally flawed. It’s time to put this hoary debate behind us, and find a better way to improve the lives of people who work very hard for very little.”

With Affordable Care Act, Canceled Policies for New York Professionals

www.nytimes.com

More on the Affordable Care Act as a case study in unintended consequences… “Thousands of New Yorkers who supported President Obama’s health plan are finding that their insurance plans are canceled and that they may have to accept inferior coverage.”

ObamaCare’s Troubles Are Only Beginning

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Michael Boskin writes that we should be prepared for eligibility, payment and information protection debacles—and longer waits for care.”

Federal Judge Rules Against N.S.A. Phone Data Program

www.nytimes.com

“A decision finds that keeping records of Americans’ phone calls probably violates the Constitution and orders the government to stop collecting data on two plaintiffs.”

High Prices under ACA: A Feature, not a Bug…

Several friends of mine have been complaining lately about experiencing “sticker shock” when they have shopped for health insurance at http://www.healthcare.gov. Unfortunately, what many of them apparently consider to be a “bug” which needs fixing (along with the website itself) is actually a “feature” of the so-called Affordable Care Act (ACA). According to the American Cancer Society’s summary of federal rating rules (see http://bit.ly/Oyrsii), “Health plans will be allowed to adjust premiums only for the following factors: 1) Self-only or family enrollment; 2) Geographic area; 3) Age (except the rate cannot vary by more than 3 to 1 for adults) and 4) Tobacco use (except the rate cannot vary by more than 1.5 to 1).” By severely limiting risk classification, the ACA is consequently designed from the ground up to make good risks pay too much for coverage and consequently cross-subsidize the premiums paid by bad risks who pay too little.

The problem with this pricing scheme is that it dissuades good risks from buying insurance in the first place. The ACA addresses this problem by imposing an “individual mandate”. Under the individual mandate, if you refrain from purchasing insurance, you are obligated to pay a “penalty” (redefined by the Supreme Court’s 2012 ACA decision as a “tax”). The penalty/tax paid by a single adult for failing to comply with the individual mandate during 2014 will be $95 but will increase within 3-4 years to $695 a year for such an individual and $2,085 a year for a family (or 2.5 percent of household income (whichever is greater); source: http://on.tnr.com/11wWS0i). In many cases (particularly for otherwise healthy individuals and families who don’t qualify for ACA premium subsidies; see http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/ to see whether you qualify), people will forego insurance and pay the penalty. With “good risks” dropping out, this implies that average claims costs (and therefore prices that need to be charged to cover these costs) will likely increase over time. As prices increase, expect to see even more (healthier than average) individuals and families drop their insurance coverage and pay the penalty/tax instead. This dynamic process is commonly referred to as “adverse selection” (see my blog posting from a couple days ago entitled “Adverse Selection – a definition, some examples, and some solutions” for more on this topic).

As bad as this all seems, adverse selection also pretty much wreaks havoc upon the business models of insurers participating in the health insurance exchanges. AEI resident fellow Dr. Scott Gottlieb writes in a recent Forbes article that the ACA faces a ‘death spiral’ which turns not only on rising premiums (due to the adverse selection problem described above) but also upon declining participation over time of health insurance plans and doctor networks provided by such plans; see http://onforb.es/1g6zwGL for details).

Assorted Links (10/21/2013)

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

Q&A: Nate Silver on China and the New FiveThirtyEight

blogs.wsj.com

“FiveThirtyEight Editor-in-Chief Nate Silver talks about how he uses data to eliminate bias, and how data from China can come from unexpected sources.”

New, Improved Obamacare Program Released On 35 Floppy Disks

www.theonion.com

“WASHINGTON—Responding to widespread criticism regarding its health care website, the federal government today unveiled its new, improved Obamacare program, which allows Americans to purchase health insurance after installing a software bundle contained on 35 floppy disks.”

What the New IPCC Global Warming Projections Should Have Looked Like

cato.org

“The top panel shows the projections as portrayed by the IPCC in their Fifth Assessment Report. The lower panel shows what they would have looked like had the climate models better reflected the latest science.”

IPCC Graphs

 Lawyers, beware lawyers

economist.com

“More than half the men who signed the Declaration of Independence had a legal training. But a legalistic approach to politics is no longer serving America well. Today’s budget wars are deeply political. They reflect unresolved debates that divide the country: over equality and redistribution, risk-taking and safety nets, and the role of government itself.”

ABYSSINIAN MASS: A Solo by Wynton Marsalis

OFFERTORY: THE SON Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration Featuring Wynton Marsalis October 11, 2013 Augusta, Georgia- Good Shepherd Baptist Church

The Charmed Life of the Unbelievers

americanthinker.com

“It’s a charmed life for non-believers, because when you basically believe in nothing, you can watch history pass you by, and chalk up monumental shifts and changes in sociopolitical life to whatever cause you want. All you have to do is find a way to make history, and the ever-shifting tectonic plates of society, spell out the need for the end of religion.”

Foster Campus for Business and Innovation officially approved by Regents

baylor.edu

“While Baylor Regents had previously approved initial funding for design work on the facility, it wasn’t until this past weekend at Homecoming that the Board officially approved construction of the new $99 million Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation that will house the Hankamer School of Business.”

Unlikely results

economist.com

“Why most published scientific research is probably false. Scientific findings are considered sound if they are unlikely to have happened by chance. But statistical logic shows that errors are rampant.”

unlikely results

Is Obama really talking about a tech ‘surge’ to fix Obamacare? | What we learned about Obamacare today: Oct 21, 2013

www.aei-ideas.org

56% of Americans say Obamacare’s “website problems are part of a broader problem with the law’s implementation,” while 40% view them as an “isolated incident.”

Obamacare’s Website Is Crashing Because It Doesn’t Want You To Know How Costly Its Plans Are

www.forbes.com

“A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping.”

How Washington Handcuffs Tax Reformers

online.wsj.com

“Scott A. Hodge and Stephen J. Entin write in the Wall Street Journal that revenue-neutral rules are bad enough. Even worse: the assumption that lower taxes will have no effect on GDP.”

The critique offered here concerning dynamic versus static scoring is of critical importance. Dynamic scoring of tax law changes allows policymakers to consider likely (negative as well as positive) incentive-related effects associated with tax reform. Static scoring ignores incentive effects and instead simplistically treats the analysis more like an accounting problem. See the Wikipedia article entitled “Dynamic scoring” for more details (@ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_scoring).

Wall Street Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Is Blowing the Whistle on Generational Theft

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, James Freeman interviews renowned money manager Stanley Druckenmiller about the debt limit, entitlement reform and why the young should be demanding action… One of the great ironies of the Obama presidency is that it has been a disaster for the young people who form the core of his political coalition. High unemployment is paired with exploding debt that they will have to finance whenever they eventually find jobs.”

Assorted Links (10/20/2013)

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

How Washington Really Redistributes Income

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, James Freeman interviews renowned money manager Stanley Druckenmiller about the debt limit, entitlement reform and why the young should be demanding action.”

Sebelius on the run: The HHS Secretary refuses to testify about ObamaCare’s rollout.

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal reports that the HHS Secretary refuses to testify about ObamaCare’s rollout.”

A New Map of How the Human Brain Works

online.wsj.com

“Forget dated ideas about the left and right hemispheres. New research provides a more nuanced view of how we plan our lives and experience the world. Which cognitive mode best describes you?”

More on Racial Preferences at UT-Austin

www.cato.org

“The government has to have a very good reason — a “strong basis in evidence” — to be able to use race in its policies.”

Budget Battles Highlight Importance of Federalism

www.cato.org

“The ongoing political dysfunction at the federal level should be a warning to avoid any further centralization of American government in Washington.”

ObamaCare’s Black Box

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal on why the exchanges are worse than even the critics imagined.”

The Abysmal, Pathetic Obamacare Rollout

www.thedailybeast.com

“It’s a colossal, expensive failure that projects a 1970s-era DMV experience into cyberspace. Welcome to Healthcare.gov, the lame website of Obama’s lame reform, writes Nick Gillespie.”

Shutdown Ended, Credit Limit Increased! See You Again in 90 Days!

reason.com

“So the government shutdown is over and the debt limit has been increased. President Obama bestrides the Capital City now like a colossus, flanked by Senate Majority Harry Reid and once-and-future Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”

What the Great Fama-Shiller Debate Has Taught Us

blogs.hbr.org

“A short version of what their Nobel Prize-winning work means and why it’s important.”

Government “Shutdown” Shuts Down Beer

www.cato.org

“Beer enthusiasts of a partisan stripe might be tempted to point the finger at Republicans or Democrats for the shutdown-induced disruption, but they should blame the federal government itself.”

Niall Ferguson: Why Paul Krugman should never be taken seriously again

blogs.spectator.co.uk

“In his widely read New York Times column and blog, Krugman regularly boasts that he has been ‘right’ about the crisis and its consequences. As he wrote in June last year: ‘I (and those of like mind) have been right about everything.’”

Economists: Breaching the Debt Ceiling “Uncharted,” But “Not…a Catastrophe”

reason.com

“Apocalyptic talk flies around about the consequences of breaching the debt ceiling—that is, letting the federal government run out its borrowing authority and failing to let it run up the credit cards any further… But, is it true? Does every economist out there see doom if the debt ceiling isn’t raised?”

Winston on Transportation | EconTalk

www.econtalk.org

“Cliff Winston of the Brookings Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his recent article in the Journal of Economic Literature on the U.S. transportation system.” This podcast should be “required listening” to city councils not only in Austin but also worldwide.

ObamaCare’s Serious Complications: For the IRS alone, implementing the law involves 47 different statutory provisions

online.wsj.com

Gordon Crovitz makes many of the same points in his WSJ op-ed today that I made in an August 2009 blog posting entitled “My preferred approach for reforming health care…” (see http://blog.garven.com/2009/08/27/my-preferred-approach-for-reforming-health-care). I have always thought that the U.S. health-care financing system could be much better designed, and that if you were to design such a system from scratch, you definitely would not want to tie the provision of health insurance to employment. As Mr. Crovitz points out in this article, the original sin in health care goes back to the wage and price controls in effect during World War II. The federal government let employers avoid wage controls by adding health insurance as an untaxed benefit for employees. Employer-provided insurance has since insulated most Americans from the cost of care. The predictable result is endless demand for increasingly inefficient services. Unfortunately, Obamacare essentially doubles down upon an already broken system. 

Obamacare enrollees become urban legend

www.miamiherald.com

“It’s so difficult to find people who have actually been able to sign up for a health insurance plan on the federal government’s glitch-haunted website that one man who was able to do so in Georgia has become a cause célèbre.”

Government Waste, From Arts Funding to Education and Defense – Room for Debate

www.nytimes.com

“The $1.8 billion in arts funding? We’re better off without it. Ditto the $40 billion Department of Education. And Pentagon waste dwarfs both. By Nick Gillespie.”

A Step Toward Facebook.gov?

reason.com

“Get ready for the government to determine what bullying online is (and therefore, what free speech isn’t).”

An introduction to the debt limit

keithhennessey.com

Excellent tutorial on the debt limit by Stanford professor Keith Hennessey, aimed at “fiscal policy novices”.

2008 Nobel laureate Paul Krugman’s back-handed compliment of the newly minted Nobel laureate Gene Fama…

Only Princeton economist/New York Times columnist and 2008 Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman can stoop so low as to refer to Fama’s Nobel prize as “the long-expected honor” and then insinuate that Fama is completely out of touch with everything going on around him – see “The Nobel” @ http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/the-nobel/.

Assorted Links (9/8/2013)

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

How Government is Destroying the Medical Profession: Q&A with Dr. Jeffrey Singer

youtube.com 

“Over the past 30 to 40 years, government involvement in medicine has resulted in a progressive regimentation of the industry,” says Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a general surgeon.” I also recommend Dr. Singer’s related (gated, but available if you register @reason.com) article by the same name @ http://reason.com/archives/2013/04/22/how-government-killed-the-medical-profes.

Why America Is Saying ‘No’: Peggy Noonan on Obama and Syria

online.wsj.com

“Syria and Obama: Wrong time, wrong place, wrong plan, wrong man, argues Peggy Noonan.”

Have More Sex, Make More Money

Wow – this is exhibit A for junk science. Repeat after me, correlation DOES NOT imply causation. 

“Money can’t buy you love, but a new study suggests lovemaking can earn you money and not just if you’re employed in the red light district. Quentin Fottrell and couples psychotherapist Dr. Fran Walfish provide details.” 

Economist Ronald Coase Was Chased Out of UVA in 1964 for Supporting Market Solutions

reason.com

“The Twitter feed of academic Siva Vaidhyanathan points to this story about how recently deceased economist Ronald Coase was chased out of the University of Virginia in the early 1960s. The heinous crime of Coase, who would go on to win the 1991 Nobel Prize in economics? He stood against the rising tide of belief in an economy managed by experts and regulators.”

Federal Homeownership Policy: Money for Nothing

www.cato.org

“Our current system of homeownership subsidies has not delivered long run gains in the homeownership rate.” 

Why ‘Duck Dynasty’ Viewers Heed Its Call

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Adam Chandler writes that hard work, solid values and a sense of humor have fueled the biggest show in cable-TV history.”

Baylor University National Commercial

From my employer, Baylor University “The mission of Baylor University – to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service – is showcased in this 30 second national commercial…”

Capitalism, Government and the Good Society

econtalk.org 

On April 10, 2013, Liberty Fund and Butler University sponsored a symposium entitled “Capitalism, Government, and the Good Society.” The symposium featured presentations by Michael Munger of Duke University, Robert Skidelsky of the University of Warwick, and Richard Epstein of New York University on the topic of role for government in the economy and in our lives. These presentations were followed by a lively panel discussion of this topic moderated by Russ Roberts of Stanford University.  

More Evidence that Foreign Aid Throws Dollars Away for Nothing

www.cato.org

“Western states should reconsider policies which hinder developing countries from taking full advantage of the global marketplace.” 

Mideast Strains Under Weight of Syrian Refugees

online.wsj.com

Amid the war debate concerning Syria, it is sobering to consider the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis of the Syrian refugees, as documented by this article from today’s Wall Street Journal…

Ronald Coase, 1910-2013

www.cato.org

“Looking back on the magnificent, if often misunderstood, scholarly legacy of Ronald Coase (1910-2013).”

Online Class Aims to Earn Millions

online.wsj.com

“Two University of Texas at Austin professors, James Pennebaker and Samuel Gosling, this week launched their introductory psychology class from a makeshift studio, with a goal of eventually enrolling 10,000 students at $550 a pop and bringing home millions for the school.”

What Happens When a Man Takes on the Feds

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Sohrab Ahmari interviews Craig Zucker, the creator of Buckyballs, which was the hottest office game on the market before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission banned it.”  

What Mr. A did on his summer vacation

austin360.com

I highly recommend the incredibly inspiring video (and accompanying article @ http://bit.ly/18v7Rqw) about an Austin legend, Anderson High School music teacher and local musician Phil Ajjarapu.

“Anderson High School music teacher and local musician Phil Ajjarapu fell from an overpass onto Mopac in a motorcycle accident in 2012. He has since recovered from his near death experience and is moving forward making his first solo studio album.”

LiveLeak.com – 1.8 gigapixel ARGUS-IS. World’s highest resolution video surveillance platform…

www.liveleak.com

Interesting and scary video of DARPA’s “Argus” project; which apparently will soon be used by the U.S. Army to survey and spy on Afghanistan from an altitude of 20,000 feet with the ability to scan 25 square miles of ground surface in extraordinarily high resolution…  

There are better anti-poverty tools than the minimum wage

www.aei-ideas.org

“Politicians, usually those on the left, frequently propose big hikes in the federal minimum wage — or even a dramatically higher “living wage” — as a way to fight poverty and help low-skill workers… But raising the minimum wage may not be a policy idea deserving of the passion it generates. It’s not a well-targeted, poverty-fighting weapon.” 

Five U.S. States Where People Drink the Most Beer

online.wsj.com

The Wall Street Journal runs the numbers and finds that the five states with the highest per capita beer consumption are 1) North Dakota, 2) New Hampshire, 3) Montana, 4) South Dakota, and 5) Wisconsin…

The global financial crisis and American wealth accumulation: The Fed needs a bubble watch

www.aei.org

Interesting points raised in this article by AEI economist John Makin:

“• The 2008 housing bubble burst and the ensuing global financial crisis destroyed an unprecedented 22 percent of accumulated American wealth.
• This massive destruction of wealth has resulted in a tepid recovery marked by below-average recovery levels of saving, consumption, and investment.
• The Federal Reserve needs to create a “bubble watch” program to prevent speculative bubbles from destroying wealth accumulation in the future.”

The WSJ’s College Football Grid of Shame: rating how good all 125 teams are

online.wsj.com

Proud to point out that Baylor ranks highly in terms of its admirability/powerhouse composite score, outscoring all Big 12 conference teams except for TCU! 🙂

“As the season begins, we rate how good all 125 teams are—and how embarrassed their alums should be.”

The Good Book and the Not-So-Good Books

www.cato.org

“The Code of Federal Regulations is as long as 95 King James Bibles.” 

8 Reasons Not to Go to War in Syria

reason.com

“Is the U.S. on the march to war in Syria? Over the past week, the stage has been set for yet another military intervention in the Middle East.”

Obama to Control the Price of Ivy?

www.cato.org

“Thanks in large part to federal aid, the price of college has risen astronomically, kneecapping students and taxpayers. Price controls will only mask the root problem while creating new pains of their own.” 

Cats Are Actually Man’s Best Friend

online.wsj.com

This is a wonderful essay on the relative merits (from a male perspective) of cats versus dogs. It resonates with me since Casa de Garven may very well qualify as a “feline colony”. 🙂

“In The Wall Street Journal, children’s author Peter Mandel says that it’s long past time for a little mutual respect between felines and their two-legged rulers.” 

Richard Vedder on the Real Reason College Costs So Much

online.wsj.com

This article does a great job of explaining why college is so damn expensive!

“In The Wall Street Journal, Allysia Finley interviews Richard Vedder on the economics of higher education. Vedder explains how subsidies fuel rising prices and why there’s a ‘bubble’ in college enrollment and student loans.” 

U.S. Policies Deter Inward and Encourage Outward Business Investment

www.cato.org

“Inhospitable and incoherent U.S. policies are chasing investment to foreign shores.”

Get a life!

www.economist.com

“The Economist Magazine writes that “Using the social network seems to make people more miserable”.”

U.S. Gun Laws as a Scapegoat for Mexico’s Drug Violence

www.cato.org

The principal reason the drug gangs can obtain all the firepower they want is that they have vast financial resources at their disposal, not U.S. gun laws.

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”

Assorted Links (7/27/2013)

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

Damage Control at Fortress IRS – WSJ

online.wsj.com

Peggy Noonan writes, “The agency crisis could permanently harm Americans’ faith in government.”

Children With Parents on Government Assistance More Likely to Become Dependent

online.wsj.com

“Does dependence on government assistance in one generation cause dependency in the next? A new economics paper suggests it does.”

Obama to Congress: Only I Can Amend ObamaCare

www.cato.org

“I’d wager lots of congressional Democrats are pretty angry at President Obama today.”

Unworkable ObamaCare

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Bobby Jindal and Scott Walker report that the chaos—opaque rules, delays and inconsistent guidance from Washington—is mounting.”

State and Local Pension Liabilities

www.cato.org

“To fund these pensions fully within 30 years, states would need to raise taxes by $1,385 per household, per year, over that period.”

Hot Enough For You?

www.cato.org

“It is doubtful that people pushing the latest fad, such as a carbon tax, have any clue the degree to which global warming is being manufactured (rightly or wrongly) by systematic adjustments to weather…”

Examining the High Dropout Rate of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Classes)

www.brighthub.com

“Recently, MOOCs have achieved high popularity. It’s no wonder – these college-level classes are free and open to anyone with an internet connection. Although the free college courses have high enrollment rates, they also have high dropout rates.”

Facing Up to America’s Pension Woes

online.wsj.com

“From the opinion section of today’s WSJ, University of Pennsylvania law professor David Skeel writes “Public retirees everywhere insist that Chapter 9 does not permit any benefit changes. Their legal case is weak.””

Information, the Entrepreneur, and George Gilder’s New Economic Thinking

american.com

“George Gilder’s vision of data-driven capitalism has much to recommend it, but caution is warranted.”

Moderate Democrats are quitting on Obamacare

www.washingtonpost.com

“Democratic support softens as Obama administration prepares insurance exchange roll out.”

If Paul Krugman Didn’t Exist, Republicans Would Have To Invent Him

www.forbes.com

Paul Krugman is famous for routinely ignoring or (in some cases) even contradicting his own academic work when he writes for the New York Times. At times, it seems that he may have a split personality – as an economist, Krugman channels Dr. Jekyll, but as a columnist he channels the malevolent Mr. Hyde. For example, consider Krugman’s reaction in March 2010 (located at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/opinion/05krugman.html) to then Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning’s attempt to block a one-month extension of unemployment benefits on the grounds (as explained by Bunning’s Senate colleague, Jon Kyl of Arizona) that “…continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work”. In the NYT article cited above, Krugman says that it is “bizarre” to worry that unemployment benefits reduce people’s incentives to find jobs — indeed, that this concern is even at odds with “textbook economics”. Apparently Prof. Krugman must count himself and his wife, Robin Wells, among those who hold bizarre ideas – or who, when writing economics textbooks, misrepresent economists’ views. Here’s what Krugman and Wells wrote on page 210 of their jointly authored textbook entitled “Macroeconomics (2nd ed.)” (see http://bit.ly/ee8Mb6), published in 2009:

“Side Effects of Public Policy. In addition, public policy designed to help workers who lose their jobs can lead to structural unemployment as an unintended side effect. Most economically advanced countries provide benefits to laid-off workers as a way to tide them over until they find a new job. In the United States, these benefits typically replace only a small fraction of a worker’s income and expire after 26 weeks. In other countries, particularly in Europe, benefits are more generous and last longer. The drawback to this generosity is that it reduces a worker’s incentive to quickly find a new job. Generous unemployment benefits in some European countries are widely believed to be one of the main causes of “Eurosclerosis,” the persistent high unemployment that afflicts a number of European economies.”

In closing, my recommendation is to only read Krugman if you want or need to know what the progressive left’s political narrative du jour happens to be.

They Finally Tested The ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’ On Actual Prisoners — And The Results Were Not What You Would Expect

www.businessinsider.com

“Prisoners were more cooperative than students.”

Obamacare Is an Expensive Failure

reason.com

“Where’s the affordable part of the Affordable Care Act?”

The Costs of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Are Passing the High-Water Mark

science.time.com

Quoting from this Time Magazine article, “”More than 5.5 million homes are protected via the National Flood Insurance Program and a little less than 20 percent of those homes – usually those who live in the most dangerous areas – receive flood insurance at heavily subsidized rates. The result is a perverse incentive for homeowners to continue to live in areas that are likely to be hit by storms and floods, knowing that the cost of rebuilding will be effectively socialized by the rest of us. At a time when we should be seriously thinking about retreating from the most high-risk coastal areas, government policy inadvertently supports living on top of the sea.”

Rise of the Warrior Cop

online.wsj.com

“SWAT teams were once rare, but they now operate at every level of government, from small towns to federal agencies. Is it time to reconsider the militarization of American policing?”