Recent Posts
(Note: Page numbers referenced in posts prior to June 1, 2011 refer to 5th edition)
January 4
De Gustibus non est Taxandum
Differences in income may be the result of differences in goals and preferences.
Textbook References:
Chapter 20 “Income Inequality and Poverty”December 27
How do the rich earn their livings?
Jon Bakija, Adam Cole, and Bradley T. Heim investigate the professions of the top one-percent of income earners from 1979 to 2005.
Textbook References:
Pages 398-405 “Some Determinants of Equilibrium Wages”Pages 416-424 “The Measurement of Inequality”
December 14
Books on Inequality
Daron Acemoglu discusses inequality and recommends five books on the subject.
Textbook References:
Chapter 20 “Income Inequality and Poverty”December 6
A Discussion of Inequality
Leading social scientists discuss inequality in an 81 minute video.
Textbook References:
Pages 398-405 “Some Determinants of Equilibrium Wages”Chapter 20 “Income Inequality and Poverty”
November 15
The British 1 Percent
Over time, the share of income going to the top 1 percent of income earners in Great Britain has changed in roughly the same way it has changed in the U.S.
Textbook References:
Pages 417-418 “Inequality around the World”November 7
Race Against the Machine
Erik Brynjolfsson argues that technological change has increased productivity but has also left many less-skilled workers behind.
Textbook References:
Pages 387-388 “Productivity and Wages”Pages 399-400 “The Increasing Value of Skills”
Chapter 20 “Income Inequality and Poverty”
November 5
Educating Oligarchs
Would a better education system reduce income inequality? Mankiw and Paul Krugman debate the issue.
Textbook References:
Pages 387-388 “Productivity and Wages”Pages 399-400 “The Increasing Value of Skills”
Chapter 20 “Income Inequality and Poverty”
October 25
The Rich Get Poorer
High income earners tend to have more volatile incomes. This is illustrated by the recent sharp decline in the incomes of the top 1% and 0.1% of U.S. earners.
Textbook References:
Pages 416-417 “U.S. Income Inequality”October 16
The Increased Role of the Minimum Wage
The increase in the minimum wage means that it now covers a larger fraction of workers.
Textbook References:
Pages 117-119 “The Minimum Wage”Page 428 “Minimum Wage Laws”
Pages 606-608 “Minimum Wage Laws”
July 7
Rogoff on Inequality
Kenneth Rogoff argues that "technological innovation will lead ultimately to commoditization of many skills that now seem very precious and unique." That implies that what are now high-skilled, high-paying jobs will become routine and will make the income distribution more equal.
Textbook References:
Pages 376-382 “The Demand for Labor”Chapter 20 “Income Inequality and Poverty”
June 22
Health Inequality
Better-educated people tend to be healthier and live longer than poorly educated people.
Textbook References:
Chapter 20 “Income Inequality and Poverty”May 25
A regression I would like to see
Holding SAT score constant, what effect does family income have on a student's performance in college?
Textbook References:
Pages 22-30 “The Economist as Scientist”Chapter 20 “Income Inequality and Poverty”
May 10
Libertarian Paradise
A short video satirizes extreme Libertarianism.
Textbook References:
Pages 8-10 “Principle 6: Principle 6: Markets Are Usually A Good Way To Organize Economic Activity”Pages 10-12 “Principle 7: Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes”
Pages 444-445 “Libertarianism”
May 4
Increasing Inequality around the World
Income inequality has grown worse in most developed countries over the past few decades.
Textbook References:
Pages 434-441 “The Measurement of Inequality”January 29
Tax Justice
A PBS video discusses the difficulties of establishing a fair tax code.
Textbook References:
Pages 249-253 “Taxes and Efficiency”Pages 253-257 “Taxes and Equity”
Pages 258-260 “Conclusion: The Trade-Off Between Equity and Efficiency”
Pages 442-445 “The Political Philosophy of Redistributing Income”
January 12
The Half-Full Glass of Economic Mobility
How much economic mobility is there in the U.S.? There are different interpretations of the data.
Textbook References:
Pages 34-36 “Why Economists Disagree”Pages 440-441 “Economic Mobility”
January 1
Letter to the President
Mankiw offers advice to President Obama on how to work with Republicans.
Textbook References:
Page 6 “Principle 3: Rational People Think at the Margin”Pages 7-8 “Principle 4: People Respond to Incentives”
Pages 246-248 “The Fiscal Challenge Ahead”
Pages 442-445 “The Political Economy of Income Redistribution”
Pages 563-565 “Education”
Pages 589-593 “Policy 3: Government Budget Deficits and Surpluses”
Pages 842-843 “Dealing with Deficits”
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 10
Fairness and Tax Policy
Jonathan Weinstein responds to a paper by Greg Mankiw and challenges some of its assumptions. The discussion centers on competing views of fair taxation.
Textbook References:
Pages 34-36 “Why Economists Disagree”
Pages 253-257 “Taxes and Equity”
Pages 419-421 “The Superstar Phenomen”
Pages 442-445 “The Political Philosophy of Redistributing Income”
July 10
The Root Cause of the Crisis
Raghuram Rajan suggests that government policy to mask stagnant real wages was the ultimate cause of the financial crisis.
Textbook References:
Pages 415-416 “The Increasing Value of Skills”
Page 417 “The Loss of Manufacturing Jobs”
Page 441 “What to Make of Rising Inequality”
Pages 654-655 “The Financial Crisis of 2008”
June 15
Glaeser on Libertarianism
Edward Glaeser discusses Jeffrey Miron's book, Libertarianism from A to Z.
Textbook References:
Pages 444-445 “Libertarianism”May 31
Is the New Measure of Poverty Better?
Robert Samuelson critiques both the current measure of poverty and a proposed alternative measure.
Textbook References:
Pages 434-441 “The Measurement of Inequality”May 26
Modesty, Gradualism, Balance
David Brooks makes the case for evolutionary, as opposed to revolutionary, change.
Textbook References:
Pages 442-445 “The Political Philosophy of Redistributing Income”April 28
Libertarianism A to Z
Jeffrey Miron has published a book titled "Libertarianism from A to Z."
Textbook References:
Pages 444-445 “Libertarianism”April 19
Egalitarianism: the Next Step
European Union commissioner for enterprise Antonio Tajani claims that "travelling for tourism today is a right," so those who cannot afford it should receive subsidies.
Textbook References:
Pages 4-5 “Principle 1: People Face Trade-offs”Pages 442-445 “The Political Philosophy of Income Redistribution”