Category Archives: Economics

STEALING USED GREASE.

STEALING USED GREASE. I have posted here about the theft of the first cast iron building in New York City to resell the cast iron as scrap and here about the burning down of buildings in Saint Louis, Cleveland and … Continue reading

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AN AGE OF BANK RUNS?

AN AGE OF BANK RUNS? Tyler Cowen at the Marginal Revolution economics site has a post on an article he wrote in the New York Times. He begins by saying that he asked some colleagues: “to identify the single most … Continue reading

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THE DEFICIT CRISIS WAS NOT A CHICKEN GAME.

THE DEFICIT CRISIS WAS NOT A CHICKEN GAME. I have posted several times about chicken games and how the debt ceiling crisis of last year was often portrayed as a chicken game both by journalists and participants. I posted here … Continue reading

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“OLD-FASHIONED BOOM AND BUST”.

“OLD-FASHIONED BOOM-AND-BUST”. Robert Samuelson had a recent Washington Post article (link via Realclearpolitics) about the explanations that have been given for the current economic crisis. He is still of the view that it resulted from an “old-fashioned boom and bust” … Continue reading

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PRICING TO ELIMINATE PARKING SHORTAGES IN SAN FRANCISCO.

PRICING TO ELIMINATE PARKING SHORTAGES IN SAN FRANCISCO. When I posted here five years ago about how “There is no shortage of parking in Evanston”, I mentioned that San Francisco was experimenting with changing the price of parking. This New … Continue reading

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GOVERNMENTS LETTING RAW SEWAGE EMPTY INTO WATERWAYS.

GOVERNMENTS LETTING RAW SEWAGE EMPTY INTO WATERWAYS. This New York Times editorial discusses the problems raised by the fact that: “Like many older cities, New York has a combined sewer system where storm water and sewage are carried through the … Continue reading

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WHY NATIONS FAIL.

WHY NATIONS FAIL. The Economist (March 10) reviewed the new book by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, WHY NATIONS FAIL. The book takes on the explanation for why some countries have prospered in the last 300 years and others have … Continue reading

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TRADE IN OBSIDIAN AND LAPIS LAZULI.

TRADE IN OBSIDIAN AND LAPIS LAZULI. The Iceman article noted that: “Archaeologists have found volcanic glass (obsidian) on the mainland that originated from Mt. Arci on Sardinia, indicating that trade existed between Sardinia and the mainland. Perhaps the Iceman’s parents … Continue reading

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THE ENFORCEABILITY OF THE GREECE-EUROZONE AGREEMENT.

THE ENFORCEABILITY OF THE GREECE-EUROZONE AGREEMENT. This Guardian hourly report for February 16 on the Greece-Eurozone negotiations has an explicit statement of the problems I have been raising. It’s in the entry for 11:05 a.m. “Georgios Karatzaferis, head of the … Continue reading

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TRYING TO ENFORCE A DEAL WITH A SOVEREIGN.

TRYING TO ENFORCE A DEAL WITH A SOVEREIGN. I posted here two weeks about the advantage that Greece has in the chicken game with the Eurozone. The spending and other economic reforms that Greece is being asked to make would … Continue reading

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