Category Archives: Economics

PRINCIPALS AND AGENTS AND ACCOUNTANTS (COMMENT).

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Philip

PRINCIPALS AND AGENTS AND ACCOUNTANTS (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder commented in particular about the success of executives of corporations in getting excessive compensation for themselves. I posted here about the success of investment banking executives in getting larger bonuses through shifting … Continue reading →

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PRINCIPALS AND AGENTS (COMMENT).

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Philip

PRINCIPALS AND AGENTS (COMMENT). About a month ago I posted here in support of a John Kay article pointing out some advantages that markets can have in placing checks on large bureaucracies. Dick Weisfelder and Elmer made comments about the … Continue reading →

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COULD THE CERRADO MIRACLE BE EXTENDED TO AFRICA?

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Philip

COULD THE CERRADO MIRACLE BE EXTENDED TO AFRICA? The financial crisis is ultimately temporary, and the technological discoveries in Brazil should be enduring. The Economist article asks whether the changes in Brazil can be extended to Africa. Although much of … Continue reading →

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GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS—THE MIRACLE OF THE CERRADO.

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Philip

GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS—THE MIRACLE OF THE CERRADO. The Economist had an article (August 28) about the extraordinary recent increase in Brazil’s agricultural production. It’s entitled “The Miracle of the Cerrado.” Between 1996 and 2006 the total value of the country’s … Continue reading →

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38 EXPLANATIONS FOR THE FINANCIAL CRISIS.

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Philip

38 EXPLANATIONS FOR THE FINANCIAL CRISIS. I have posted from time to time on how almost everybody failed to predict the financial crisis, although events were happening right in front of them, and on how difficult it is to test … Continue reading →

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RESEARCH ON WHETHER POWER CORRUPTS.

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Philip

RESEARCH ON WHETHER POWER CORRUPTS. I posted here on Lord Acton’s observation that: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men….” Jonah Lehrer had an article in the Wall Street Journal (August … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, History, Politics, Science | 1 Comment

COMMERCIALIZING ART MUSEUMS.

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Philip

COMMERCIALIZING ART MUSEUMS. When my brother Elmer was in law school, he met a girl at a party who was studying to be a museum curator. He wound up in an argument with her because it turned out that he … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Economics | 3 Comments

MARKET RESEARCH IN ART GALLERIES.

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Philip

MARKET RESEARCH IN ART GALLERIES. The Wall Street Journal (August 18) has an article by Isaac Arnsdorf about observers in museums doing the kind of research that supermarkets do. The article focuses on the efforts of the Detroit Institute of … Continue reading →

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MARKETS AND THE LIMITATION OF POWER.

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Philip

MARKETS AND THE LIMITATION OF POWER. Kids, in the John Kay article that I linked to yesterday, he identifies three elements in the success of markets as compared to centralized systems: (1) allocation of resources through prices; (2) innovation; and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics | 3 Comments

MARKETS AND CROWDSOURCING.

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Philip

MARKETS AND CROWDSOURCING. An important argument for markets is that they draw upon the ideas of a large number of people. John Kay wrote an article last year in praise of the market economy (I came across it in the … Continue reading →

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