The Curious Price of Lobster - Luxury Good

James Surowiecki has an interesting column in the New Yorker about how the restaurant price of lobster has stayed high despite a glut in the supply of lobster - it gets into how the pricing of luxury goods works.

How Economic Diversity Saves Cities

The Economist Free Exchange column has an article about the role of economic diversity and how it can save cities from decline.  It shows how both Pittsburgh and Baltimore escaped Detroit's fate because their urban economies were not based on one industry.  The article describes why it is hard to reverse a decline once it begins.

Wasting the Financial Crisis

Adam Davidson has a good short article in the New York Times about the debate over regulation of financial institutions in the wake of the 2008 crisis.  It would be a good introductory article that lays out the basic points of the debate about financial regulation.

Difficulty in Measuring Productivity

Adam Davidson has a good article in the New York Times about the difficulty in measuring productivity in the knowledge economy - it starts with discussing how some accountants are turning away from the billable hour model to a service fee model that is better for difficult, interesting and valuable projects.

The New York Times has another piece by Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker on changes in how the Bureau of Economic Analysis calculates GDP to reflect intellectual property that can continue to produce income into the future.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis has put together a short video that explains both GDP and the recent changes to GDP.  The Atlantic Monthly article, "The Lady Gaga Fix" describes what the change in GDP means and doesn't mean - along with the criticism of the move.  The Free Exchange column at the Economist also has a good description of the change.  

Hamilton Jobs Calculator

The Hamilton Project has a interactive graph in which you can enter the number of jobs created in a month and the amount of time it will take to close the jobs gap (return to the number of jobs in 2008).  It is an interesting way to play around with numbers.

Debate - Who Should Be the Next Fed Chair

The New York Times has a good debate over who President Obama should choose as the next chair of the Federal Reserve.  The participants in the debate reflect a wide range of perspectives that champion Yellen, Summers or a person with different expertise.

Eminent Domain Being Used to Save Homes

The New York Times has an interesting article on cities using eminent domain laws to take over houses to keep people from losing their homes.  In the program, cities buy the outstanding loans on houses for partial value (based on the current value of the house) and then lets the owners refinance based on the current value.  Basically, the owners of the loans are forced to take the loss.  The cities justify the action as saying that they are saving the homes from becoming blighted.  There are a lot of good policy arguments to be had over this article.

The Inverse Relationship of Bond Prices and Interest Rates

The New York Times has good article that explains the inverse relationship between bond prices and interest rates.  It also points out that, with an expected rise in interest rates over the next few years, many investors who have moved their money to the "safety" of bonds, stand to lose as bond prices drop.  The article also includes information (and a link) by Finra Investor Education Foundation about how little most people know about basic financial issues - like bond prices and interest rates.  The report was based on questions, like in the quiz below.  Take it yourself and find out how you do:

Future Battle Over Wealth Taxes

Tyler Cowen has a good column in the New York Times over the future prospect of wealth taxes and that the reality that some highly indebted countries are actually very wealthy, despite their current economic troubles.  This can explain why bond rates are so low on Japanese bonds.  It also talks about how Italy (in relation of debt to wealth) is wealthier than Germany - which has some implications about the future of eurozone "bailouts" and the demands of countries like Germany to demand wealth taxes to go along with bailouts.  However, as Cowen notes, this type of tax can have a big impact on future growth because it could discourage investment.

Review of the History of QE

Floyd Norris has a short history in the New York Times of the argument over Quantitative Easing and it shows how some economists got it really wrong what the price for this will be has yet to be seen.

Mankiw - Friendship beyond Economics

Greg Mankiw has a New York Times article about how friendship can go above and beyond economic and political differences.  A reminder of the relationship between Keynes and Hayek.  I wonder if Mankiw would say the same we of Krugman?

Tyler Cowen - Cookbook Economics

Tyler Cowen has an article in Foreign Policy about cookbooks and economics.  From A foodie like Cowen it should be an interesting read.

Short History of the Founding of the Federal Reserve

Roger Lowenstein has an article in the New York Times about the founding of the Federal Reserve and the views the founders had about the role the Fed should have in the economy - which is was quite different from how it has turned out.

Tyler Cowen on Causes for Economic Slowdown in Emerging Economies

Tyler Cowen has a good column in the New York Times about the causes of the economic slowdown in the emerging market economies.  This would be a good article to use with economic growth or with international trade.

Krugman on Globalization and Macroeconomics - Good Graph

Paul Krugman has a good post on the effects of globalization and macroeconomics - some interesting points - it has this good graph showing the size of world trade going back to 1900.  Note the breaks for the World Wars and the way trade declined from before World War One until after World War Two.