Category Archives: Economics

THE LADY OR THE TIGER?—AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION.

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Philip

THE LADY OR THE TIGER?—AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION. Francis Stockton wrote a famous story at the end of the nineteenth century—The Lady or the Tiger? My father told us the story a couple times at the dinner table. The story presents … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Literature, Politics | 1 Comment

COMPLICATING A CHICKEN GAME.

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Philip

COMPLICATING A CHICKEN GAME. I heard about a situation as a young lawyer which exemplifies how a negotiator can introduce additional issues into a negotiation. A businessman was negotiating to buy a large company. He offered to buy the company … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | 3 Comments

SIMPLE AND COMPLEX CHICKEN GAMES (COMMENT).

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Philip

SIMPLE AND COMPLEX CHICKEN GAMES (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder in his comment points out that in a real life game of chicken, there are more possible outcomes than that one player wins and the other loses. Think of the “chicken game” … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, History, Politics | 4 Comments

ANOTHER EXPLANATION FOR THE POLARIZATION OF POLITICS.

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Philip

ANOTHER EXPLANATION FOR THE POLARIZATION OF POLITICS. This article by William Galston gives an explanation I had never thought of for the polarization of the political parties in recent years. I have thought the chief explanation is greatly improved gerrymandering. … Continue reading →

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BRIGHT LINES IN NEGOTIATIONS.

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Philip

BRIGHT LINES IN NEGOTIATIONS. Kids, I posted several times on the debt ceiling negotiations before it was resolved, and in this post I cited Thomas Schelling’s THE STRATEGY OF CONFLICT for its discussion of the game of “chicken.” Chicken is … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics | 5 Comments

THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Philip

THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. Deirdre McCloskey points out that in this review that: “For a long time in historical writing, 1890 to 1980, we were all historical materialists.” She is referring to a period when economic growth was usually … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, History | 1 Comment

THE “INDUSTRIOUS REVOLUTION” AND MARKETS.

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Philip

THE “INDUSTRIOUS REVOLUTION” AND MARKETS. I posted here on the concept of the “Industrious Revolution”. The concept was introduced by Jan De Vries, who argues that there was a time period before the Industrial Revolution in which workers were working … Continue reading →

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WHAT HAPPENED TO STANDARDS OF LIVING IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION?

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Philip

WHAT HAPPENED TO STANDARDS OF LIVING IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION? I turned to the end of Joel Mokyr’s essay to find the answer to the question of what happened to living standards in the Industrial Revolution. Mokyr calls this debate … Continue reading →

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WHAT HAPPENED IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION—AN UPDATE.

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Philip

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION—AN UPDATE. One of the questions I have wondered about for the last 50 years is: Did the Industrial Revolution help the common man? I posted on the question here,with a wonderful quote from E.P. … Continue reading →

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THE BILLION PRICE PROJECT.

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Philip

THE BILLION PRICE PROJECT. This is the web site of the Billion Price Project, which estimates inflation on a daily basis in 70 countries. The project collects sales prices from hundreds of online retailers for some 5 million products. (There … Continue reading →

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