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- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
- Dick Weisfelder: My prior comment was just in the context of sports. Whether or not from Pinker, I have seen the...
- erik: It seems doubtful that human nature has changed. The most likely explanation would be that modern culture gives...
- HOW BANKS PREPARED FOR A U.S. DEFAULT. (2)
- GREECE’S ADVANTAGE IN THE CHICKEN GAME. (2)
- Nick: That makes sense. It reminds me of the stories Pater Familias would tell me about how in Boston the person with...
- Dick Weisfelder: Greece seems to me to be playing a game that Karl Deutsch called “underdog.” While one...
- FOOTBALL PLAYERS DELIBERATELY CAUSING CONCUSSIONS? (3)
- Nick: It was my understanding that boxing gloves were to protect the puncher’s hands and not the...
- Dick Weisfelder: Remember the Roman arenas? Bare knuckled boxing? Such injuries were taken as natural and accepted in...
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This isn’t about football. Or even sportsmanship. Well, it is about sportsmanship. But what...
- A 25 % CHANCE OF A EURO DEFAULT? (1)
- Nick: The fact that this has gone on for so long is pretty perplexing. The Economist is referring back to articles it...
- DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PATIENT YOU ARE. (1)
- Dick Weisfelder: One can be very open to new technology, but also risk averse. The recent debates about how to...
- THE EUROZONE—A CHICKEN GAME WHERE EVERY MEMBER CAN BLOW IT UP? (1)
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This is not a matter of chicken. These are all turkeys.
- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
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Monthly Archives: March 2008
CREATING A MARKET FOR GRAIN.
CREATING A MARKET FOR GRAIN. This article by Roger Thurow from the July 1, 2003 Wall Street Journal illustrates the difficulties of encouraging economic development. Just five years ago, Ethiopia was confronted with a famine. Ironically, the article attributes much … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History
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HOW ETHIOPIA IS IMITATING CHICAGO.
HOW ETHIOPIA IS IMITATING CHICAGO. Roger Thurow had an article in the Wall Street Journal for February 27 about the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, which was scheduled to open in Addis Ababa in March. The new exchange is patterned after the … Continue reading
TELLER AND THE JELLY DOUGHNUT.
TELLER AND THE JELLY DOUGHNUT. Adam Gopnik takes note in the article that I linked to yesterday that it is a cardinal sin for a magician to reveal to a layman how a trick is done. Nevertheless, I love finding … Continue reading
Posted in Literature, Uncategorized
3 Comments
HUNGER ARTISTS AND MAGICIANS.
HUNGER ARTISTS AND MAGICIANS. I wrote here about the popularity of hunger artists in Europe a hundred years ago and about the technical problem they faced in proving they were really fasting. Adam Gopnik had an article (link unavailable) about … Continue reading
Posted in History, Uncategorized
1 Comment
SOME COSTS OF MIGRATION.
SOME COSTS OF MIGRATION. Thirty-five years ago we saw BREAD AND CHOCOLATE, a memorable movie about a Sicilian and a Turk trying to find work in Switzerland in order to send money home. Leaving home is hard. There is the … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History
7 Comments
SENDING MONEY HOME.
SENDING MONEY HOME. Jason DeParle has an article in the New York Times for March 17 about an economist who has measured the amount and the importance of remittances that are sent home to poorer countries by migrant workers. Dilip … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History
3 Comments
A VOICE FROM 1873.
A VOICE FROM 1873. An article in yesterday’s New York Times by Edmund L. Andrews is headlined: “Fed Chief Shifts Path, Inventing Policy in Crisis.” and continues in the text that: “Mr. Bernanke [Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Federal … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History
4 Comments
THE CARTOON EXPLANATION OF SUBPRIME MORTGAGES.
THE CARTOON EXPLANATION OF SUBPRIME MORTGAGES. One of the posts by Doctor Manhattan that I linked to yesterday had this cartoon explanation of the subprime mortgage crisis. (The link came from Greg Mankiw, who is a notable economist and teacher). … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
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A SIMPLE WAY TO FOOL CONSUMERS.
A SIMPLE WAY TO FOOL CONSUMERS. I posted here on some ways sellers can shift a consumer’s demand curve.Tim Harford in this weekend’s Financial Times suggests the frequent use of random markups. His example is a medium-sized package of washing … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
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DOCTOR MANHATTAN AND THE ECONOMICS OF THE FAMILY.
DOCTOR MANHATTAN AND THE ECONOMICS OF THE FAMILY. One of my favorite blogs has been Doctor Manhattan. Doctor Manhattan took a vacation from blogging for over two years, but I continued to use his excellent blogroll as a reference (look … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Uncategorized
2 Comments