Limits fo Economics

Blog post on limits to economics - calls out DSGE models inparticular.

Blinder on What is the Matter with Economics - good quote

Alan Blinder has a good quote in his response to "What is the Matter with Economics".

Do Safer Banks Mean Less Growth

Mark Thoma has an article on CBS on whether safer banks mean less growth.

Connection of QE to Great Depression

This blog post has a lot of good summaries of QE and how it is similar to going off the gold standard during the Great Depression.

Return of the Gold

The New York Times has a good article about the rise in gold by nations around the world.

Game Theory and selecting students for school

The New York Times has a good article on how economists used Game Theory to improve New York City's school selection process.

World Bank does Behavioral Economics

The new World Bank Development Report looks at Behavioral Economics applied to economic development.

Quantitative Easing Graphic

Good graphic from Mint.com about how Quantitative Easing Works.

John Taylor - Two Sides of the Taylor Rule

John Taylor has a good blog post about the Taylor Rule and how it is about both inflation and output - and that the output part has broken down.

QE is dead.... Long live QE

The Upshot column in the New York Times has a good summary of QE - with charts.

Haircuts and Price Descrimination

The Atlantic Monthly has a good article about price discrimination in men and women's haircuts.

Going Dutch on Public Pensions

The New York Times has an article about how the Dutch run their public pensions - honestly funding each generation.

Economic Analysis of Casinos

The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis has released a study on the economic prospects from casinos that analyzes the short and long run economic prospects for casinos and the effects on local tax revenues.  It has a lot of good graphics and could be useful in fostering a more sophisticated discussion about the choice of using casinos to foster economic growth.

Apps and Data Mining

Why do companies push people to use Apps instead of their web page - to get information about you.  Marketplace has the full rundown.

Managing Money is Like Getting in Shape

The Week Magazine has a article that compares saving money to getting in shape.

Why are Economic Models Bad at Predicting the Future

Mark Thoma has a good piece at CBS news on why economic models are such poor predicters of the future.

Lifestyle Inflation

The Week has an article on lifestyle inflation or how spending increases with income - how middle class gets into such debt.

Evidence of Sticky Wages

Bloomberg has a good article that explains sticky wages in connection with data from the recent downturn to show evidence of sticky wages.  The article also has this nice chart:

Benefits of a Cashless Economy

The Economist has a good article about the benefits of getting rid of physical cash. A lot of good economic concepts with numbers are in the article.

Five Charts on Employment Numbers

The Upshot blog at the New York Times has a good set of charts to show the explain how the employment situation has been changing.

The Upshot - Most Economists Think Fiscal Stimulus Works

Justin Wolfers, writing in the New York Times Upshot blog, shows that most economists believe the 2009 fiscal stimulus worked and the benefits were greater than the costs.  There are two good charts showing how overwhelming the support for stimulus is among economists.

Wall Street's View of Economic Models & Policy

Noah Smith has an article on economic models and how it affects Wall Street's view of economic policy.

Should the Fed Have a Policy Rule

Mark Thoma has an article laying out the the pros and cons of having the Fed follow a Taylor Rule.

Articles on Monopoly & Inherited Wealth

The Economist has an article on drug companies changing patents and monopoly.

Mankiw argues in favor of inherited wealth - against Piketty.

The States of the Economy after Recession

The New York Times has a set of interactive charts showing the state of the economy five years after the recession - it show what has bounced back and what has not.

Slave Labor Letter from China

The New Yorker's Currency Blog has a good post about a letter from a slaver laborer in China that showed up in an bag being sold in the United States.

How the Recession Changed Work

The New York Times has a good interactive graphic showing how the Great Recession changed work in the United States.

Cartoon showing the Circulation of Money

The New York Times has the following cartoon showing how money (coins) circulate:

More Empirical Work in Intro Economics

Noah Smith has a piece in Bloomberg about the need to more empirical work in introductory economics classes.

Summary of Piketty Debate

The New York Times has a summary of the Piketty debate over data and methods.

Pricing and Trading Carbon

The New York Times has a good article about the process for trading and pricing carbon.  It has a good graphic explaining the process.

CAP

CAP LOWERED

Purchased or

traded permits

Carbon

dioxide

emissions

Carbon

permits

Remaining

carbon

permits

Freely issued permits

CAPPED INDUSTRIES

INDUSTRY A

INDUSTRY B

CAPPED INDUSTRIES

CAP AND PERMIT

The government imposes a cap on the total amount of greenhouse emissions allowed from major industries, then issues permits to match the amount of the cap. Each permit allows the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide, or equivalent.

ISSUE, BUY AND TRADE

Initially, most of the permits are given to industries at no cost. The remaining permits can be bought at a government auction or traded in a carbon market set up for that purpose.

LOWERING THE CAP

The government gradually lowers the carbon cap by a few percent a year, which reduces the number of available permits and cuts the total amount of pollution allowed by the industries under the carbon cap.

No reduction

in emissions

Offset credits

Steep reduction

Investment

CARBON-REDUCING

PROJECT

INDUSTRY A

INDUSTRY B

INDUSTRY A

REDUCING TOTAL EMISSIONS

Industries can reduce their emissions by spending money to upgrade their facilities and equipment, or they can use the carbon market to purchase the carbon permits needed to cover their emissions — whichever is cheaper.

CARBON OFFSETS

Industries can also invest in projects elsewhere that lower carbon emissions, like forestry or burning methane from dairy cows. These projects create “offset credits” that can be used or sold, usually at a lower price than government-auctioned permits.

World Map in Exports

The Week magazine has an interesting map of the world based on exports.

Financial History in Five Crises

The Economist has a good essay that explains how financial institutions developed through financial crises.

Measuring Worth - Historic Economic Data

Just found this good site - Measuring Worth - it is times series of historic economic data.  Pretty cool.

Fed Minutes of 2008 Crisis

The New York Times has coverage of the FOMC meetings minutes from the 2008 Economic Crisis.

Updates - Busy Life

Life has been busy as of late with preparation for the MCEE program with Larry Summers at the Boston Federal Reserve.

Here are some good articles:

Noah Smith has a good article in The Week about what most people do not get about Macroeconomics - namely that economists are focused on efficiency while the general public is more focused on inequality.

Rob Garver has an article in The Week that points out that women now sit atop two of the major economic institutions in the world.  Janet Yellen is Chair the  the Federal Reserve and Christine Legarde is the head of the International Monetary Fund.

Tyler Cowen has a column in the New York Times that argues that many of the problems with the Emerging Market Economies has more to do with internal issues in those countries than with global economic issues.

The New York Times has an interactive 1040 tax form - a good teaching tool.

Annie Lowrey in The New York Times has a good article that examines whether a government policy that promotes marriage can lower the poverty rate.

Catherine Rampell in The New York Times has a good article about the use of "video games" in the hiring process.

Argentina - Knock on Effects on Lying Statistics

The Economist has a good piece reporting on how the Argentinian governments lies about inflation are now impacting other economic and social statistics.

Philip's Curve Interactive Graphic

The New York Times has a great Philips Curve Graph that shows the unemployment-inflation trade-off at specific points in history.

Sir William Petty - Man Who Invented Economics

The Economist has a short article on Sir William Petty - the man who invented economics.  Another person who you wish you had learned about earlier.

CME's Future's Trading Game

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has a good online simulation for future's trading.  In the simulation, players can either be a "hedger" or a "speculator".  It is a good way to have students learn a complex (but important) financial instrument by doing.

Caught up on NY Times "Its the Economy"

The New York Times "Its the Economy" have had a few good articles recently:

Thinking Outside the (Big) Box - A look at how paying workers more can result in more sales and higher profits for companies.

Why Are Americans Staying Put? - An examination of how Americans have become less mobile and what that might mean for changes in the American economy.

Mind the Gap - Explains the limits that mayors have in combating economic inequality and how policies to fight inequality in cities could actually create more inequality - not so much because the rich will leave cities, but because the policies will attract more poor people.

Switzerland's Proposal to Pay People for Being Alive - Describes the basic-income idea that governments provide each citizen with a minimum income (instead of various welfare programs).