Category Archives: Economics

HOW IMPORTANT IS CLEAR TITLE TO PROPERTY?

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Philip

HOW IMPORTANT IS CLEAR TITLE TO PROPERTY? Kids, Hernando de Soto’s campaign to make the possibility of clear ownership of property widely available is controversial. This wikipedia article summarizes de Soto’s thesis: “no nation can have a strong market economy … Continue reading →

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THE DEATH OF A TUNISIAN BUSINESSMAN WHO HAD NO PROPERTY RIGHTS.

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Philip

THE DEATH OF A TUNISIAN BUSINESSMAN WHO HAD NO PROPERTY RIGHTS. Hernando de Soto is a Peruvian economist who campaigns for the importance of property rights and argues that the lack of a title system for property prevents economic development. … Continue reading →

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A COUNTRY WITHOUT PROPERTY RIGHTS—GREECE.

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Philip

A COUNTRY WITHOUT PROPERTY RIGHTS—GREECE. In this country, we take for granted public land records which record title to real property rights. This New York Times article by Suzanne Daley (May 26, 2013) describes how Greece, a member of the … Continue reading →

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THE MARSHMALLOW EXPERIMENT AND ECONOMIC HISTORY.

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Philip

THE MARSHMALLOW EXPERIMENT AND ECONOMIC HISTORY. The result of the experiment which showed that children who have reason to doubt that they will get a second marshmallow are less likely to defer eating the first one is consistent with a … Continue reading →

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PUBS AND MONEY.

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Philip

PUBS AND MONEY. The Irish experience of working around the absence of banks received some attention during the Greek and Cyprus banking crises. Tyler Cowen at the Marginal Revolution website posted on the Irish experience in March during the Cyprus … Continue reading →

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ALL OF A COUNTRY’S BANKS CLOSE?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Philip

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ALL OF A COUNTRY’S BANKS CLOSE? This review in the Economist (May 18) of Felix Martin’s MONEY:THE UNAUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY tells what happened when all of Ireland’s clearing banks closed for a 6 month period in 1970 because … Continue reading →

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THE “SHORTAGE” OF TOILET PAPER IN VENEZUELA.

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Philip

THE “SHORTAGE” OF TOILET PAPER IN VENEZUELA. I posted here six years ago about Venezuela’s use of price controls and pointed out that “shortages and price controls are two sides of the same coin.” This article in USAToday by Peter … Continue reading →

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SPREADSHEET ERRORS (COMMENT).

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Philip

SPREADSHEET ERRORS (COMMENT). In a comment on this post, Henry Nejako pointed out an article in New York magazine about how a graduate student had found “a major flaw in an influential 2010 economic paper by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth … Continue reading →

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POACHING MAPLE SAP TREE BY TREE.

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Philip

POACHING MAPLE SAP TREE BY TREE. This Economist article reports on thefts of maple sap in Maine from individual trees. The taps often damage the trees. If you don’t have ownership rights in a tree, you have little incentive to … Continue reading →

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STEALING REFRIGERATORS.

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Philip

STEALING REFRIGERATORS. I have posted often on thefts of bulky items (bridges, buildings, ferris wheels, bathtubs), and so I don’t always post when I come across thefts of unusual items. However,…. I usually read the police reports in our local … Continue reading →

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