Recent Posts
(Note: Page numbers referenced in posts prior to June 1, 2011 refer to 5th edition)
April 3
Bertrand Competition
Competition is good for consumers.
Textbook References:
Pages 66-67 “What Is Competition?”Pages 351-352 “Competition, Monopolies, and Cartels”
December 16
The Economics of Seinfeld
Clips from the TV show "Seinfeld" are used to illustrate a variety of economic concepts.
Textbook References:
Pages 4-5 “Principle 1: People Face Trade-offs”Pages 5-6 “Principle 2: The Cost of Something is What You Give Up to Get It”
Page 6 “Principle 3: Rational People Think at the Margin”
Pages 7-8 “Principle 4: People Respond to Incentives”
Pages 10-12 “Principle 7: Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes”
Chapter 3 “Interdependence and the Gains from Trade”
Pages 67-72 “Demand”
Pages 73-76 “Supply”
Pages 144-153 “Controls on Prices”
Chapter 10 “Externalities”
Pages 226-227 “The Different Kinds of Goods”
Pages 227-232 “Public Goods”
Pages 230-232 “The Difficult Job of Cost-Benefit Analysis”
Pages 232-237 “Common Resources”
Pages 274-275 “Fixed and Variable Costs”
Page 281 “Economies and Diseconomies of Scale”
Pages 312-315 “Why Monopolies Arise”
Chapter 16 “Monopolistic Competition”
Pages 370-378 “The Economics of Cooperation”
Pages 399-400 “The Supply of Labor”
Page 414 “Compensating Differentials”
Page 442 “Utility”
Page 465 “Utility: An Alternative Way to Describe Preferences and Optimization”
Pages 484-489 “Asymmetric Information”
Pages 556-558 “Technological Knowledge”
Pages 578-580 “Financial Intermediaries”
Pages 598-600 “Present Value: Measuring the Time Value of Money”
Pages 603-604 “Diversification of Firm-Specific Risk”
Pages 606-609 “The Efficient Market Hypothesis”
Pages 630-631 “The Economics of Unions”
Pages 703-705 “The Prices for International Transactions: Real and Nominal Exchange Rates”
Pages 707-708 “The Basic Logic of Purchasing Power Parity”
Page 833 “Time Inconsistency”
December 15
Avinash Dixit
There is a brief biography of Avinash Dixit.
Textbook References:
Chapter 16 “Monopolistic Competition”
Pages 370-378 “The Economics of Cooperation”
Pages 566-567 “Property Rights and Political Stability”
September 17
Glaeser on Goolsbee
Edward Glaeser discusses the new chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Textbook References:
Pages 30-33 “The Economist As Policy Adviser”
Pages 160-164 “The Deadweight Loss of Taxation”
Pages 164-167 “The Determinants Of The Deadweight Loss”
Pages 369-370 “How the Size of an Oligopoly Affects the Market Outcome”
July 26
Al Roth
Forbes profiles Al Roth, who uses game theory to solve real-world problems..
Textbook References:
Pages 370-378 “The Economics of Cooperation”
October 29
Is Amazon Predatory?
The American Booksellers Association accuses Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target of predatory pricing.
Textbook References:
Pages 381-382 “Predatory Pricing”
October 28
The Value of Human(?) Capital
Scientists find that adding to a monkey's "human" capital will raise its income and status in the monkey's group.
Textbook References:
Pages 366-370 “Markets with only a Few Sellers”
Pages 414-416 “Human Capital”