Category Archives: Economics

TO BE REMEMBERED FOREVER—WRONGLY—FOR BEING MEAN.

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.

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.

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

GIVING TO MAXIMIZE A SOCIAL CONNECTION.

GIVING TO MAXIMIZE A SOCIAL CONNECTION. I have posted several times, including here, about the ideas of SCROOGENOMICS, a book by Joel Waldfogel which argues that “Christmas gifts should be in cash because the recipient knows what he wants better … Continue reading

Posted in Economics | 1 Comment

CHRISTMAS CLUBS.

CHRISTMAS CLUBS. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it seems that Christmas shopping is more important than it’s ever been. Contrary to appearances, it was more important back in the day. Tim Harford had an article in the Financial Times … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History | Leave a comment

NORWAY’S CHRISTMAS BUTTER SHORTAGE.

NORWAY’S CHRISTMAS BUTTER SHORTAGE. Norway has a butter shortage which has created quite a stir on the internet. This NPR article reports: “No krumkaker. No Berlinerkranser. No sandbakkel.” This Guardian article quotes a Norwegian as saying that they won’t be … Continue reading

Posted in Economics | 1 Comment

TYLER DURDEN IS NOT A HOAX (COMMENT).

TYLER DURDEN IS NOT A HOAX (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder and Nick picked up on the link in my post on rehypothecation to a post by Tyler Durden, whose picture on the blog looks like Brad Pitt. I completely missed that … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, Economics, Sports | Leave a comment

PLAYING WITH MATCHES NEAR A GASOLINE TANK.

PLAYING WITH MATCHES NEAR A GASOLINE TANK. Here is a Guardian summary of events on Friday December 16 relating to the Eurozone crisis. If you scroll through you will see that it was a hectic day. At 5:50 p.m. Fitch … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History, Politics | 1 Comment

THE EUROZONE—A CHICKEN GAME WHERE EVERY MEMBER CAN BLOW IT UP?

THE EUROZONE—A CHICKEN GAME WHERE EVERY MEMBER CAN BLOW IT UP? I began a discussion of chicken games in connection with the debt ceiling negotiations (here is some of the discussion). Radek Sikorski, the Foreign Minister of Poland, gave a … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History, Politics | 1 Comment

PRICING FAT TAIL RISK.

PRICING FAT TAIL RISK. Kids, you will note that the “fat tail risks” that are currently being recognized by the crude oil markets—possible trouble in Russia or the Middle East, collapse of the eurozone— are also fat tail risks in … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History, Politics | Leave a comment