Category Archives: Economics

DID BEER LEAD TO THE INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE?

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Philip

DID BEER LEAD TO THE INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE? I had a conversation recently with my friend Don Warfield in which he told me about the archaeological theory that hunter gatherers turned to agriculture because of beer. This article describes the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, History | Leave a comment

SELLING GOODS IN THE SHADOW MARKET.

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Philip

SELLING GOODS IN THE SHADOW MARKET. In the shadow market, the biggest flow of goods is from China, but large American companies like Procter & Gamble make their products available to these markets through local distributors. Neuwirth explains how the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Leave a comment

THE SECOND BIGGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD—THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY.

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Philip

THE SECOND BIGGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD—THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY. The untaxed, unlicensed, and unregulated economies of the world collectively would be the second largest economy in the world, after the United States. That estimate comes from an interview in Wired … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Leave a comment

KLUDGES.

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Philip

KLUDGES. The title of the sunk cost article refers to sunk costs as a “memory kludge”. This wikipedia article defines a kludge as: “A kludge (or kluge) is a workaround, a quick-and-dirty solution, a clumsy or inelegant, yet effective, solution … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Science | Leave a comment

WHEN ARE SUNK COSTS SUNK?

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Philip

WHEN ARE SUNK COSTS SUNK? Although the article by Baliga and Ely presents its arguments as an exception to the long-established rule that it is rational to treat sunk costs as by-gones, I think it is easier to view the … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Economics | Leave a comment

AN ARGUMENT THAT SOMETIMES IT’S RATIONAL TO BE INFLUENCED BY SUNK COSTS.

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Philip

AN ARGUMENT THAT SOMETIMES IT’S RATIONAL TO BE INFLUENCED BY SUNK COSTS. The Baliga and Ely article struck me because it presents an interesting argument that there can be circumstances where you should be influenced by sunk costs. The argument … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Leave a comment

WHY SUNK COSTS SHOULD BE IGNORED.

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Philip

WHY SUNK COSTS SHOULD BE IGNORED. Kids, you have probably encountered the the economic argument that it is a fallacy to take sunk costs into consideration in making a decision (“sunk costs” are defined in this wikipedia article as “retrospective … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Economics, Politics, Sports | 2 Comments

TO BE REMEMBERED FOREVER—WRONGLY—FOR BEING MEAN.

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Philip

TO BE REMEMBERED FOREVER—WRONGLY—FOR BEING MEAN. Dickens is quoted as saying in his diary about Ebenezer Scroggie: “to be remembered through eternity only for being mean seemed the greatest testament to a life wasted.” And that is a message of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Literature | Leave a comment

EBENEZER SCROGGIE—ADAM SMITH’S GREAT NEPHEW.

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Philip

EBENEZER SCROGGIE—ADAM SMITH’S GREAT NEPHEW. After I had posted before Christmas on Scroogenomics, I was pleased to find that Charles Dickens based his character Ebenezer Scrooge on a great nephew of Adam Smith. The story is told here by Timothy … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Literature | Leave a comment

LEAPING INTO SOMEBODY ELSE’S MIND.

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Philip

LEAPING INTO SOMEBODY ELSE’S MIND. Ariely provides support for my favorite kind of gift giving—taking on “the great challenge… in making the leap into someone else’s mind.” He says that psychological research “affirms that we…have a hard time seeing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Science | 1 Comment