Number of comments: 1 This week our leaders in DC held a job summit, but I'm not sure how open they were to the current evidence about unemployment. Last October the Wall Street Journal reported that teenage unemployment in September was at 25.9%. (link). As reported this is very close to what economist' [...]
Number of comments: 1 Recently, a lot of headlines have been made about hacked emails that involved questionable exchanges between climate scientists. Reading between the lines, the emails imply that there was a conscious effort among climate scientists to massage data (possibly omitting data that would weaken their conclusions) as well as blackball authors [...]
Number of comments: 0 The First Thanksgiving offered a great lesson in how free markets and private property can lead to agricultural abundance. In many ways we have done well in learning this. Family farmers account for 98% of all farms and produce 96% of all the food in this country. Their own pursuit [...]
Number of comments: 3 The first Thanksgiving story provides an interesting lesson in agricultural economics. Foremost, the celebration was about thanking God for the abundance. However, an important aspect is what resulted from a move away from a socialist or common property model of organizing and allocating resources (imposed on them by the Colony’s [...]
Number of comments: 0 "The combination of quantitative training and applied work makes agricultural economics graduates an extremely well-prepared source of employees for private industry. That's why American Express has hired over 80 agricultural economists since 1990." - David Edwards, Vice President-International Risk Management, American Express
Number of comments: 0 To me, we have seen a lot of hypocrisy lately in the public discourse regarding the issue of compensation. The underlying premise for much of the call for capping executive compensation has been that executives are overcompensated. That compensation structures have provided too much incentive for excessive risk taking. When [...]
Number of comments: 0 Previously I was discussing Eigene Weekly's Next Big Thing blog interview of Craig Rosebraugh regarding Earth Liberation Front's magazine 'Resistance.' I pointed out a couple of myths being perpetuated about the role of profits and biotechnology as they relate to environmental sustainability. In the same interview, Mr. Rosebraugh makes [...]
Number of comments: 0 The following is an excerpt from a recent interview (here on Eigene Weekly's Next Big Thing blog) of Craig Rosebraugh regarding Earth Liberation Front's magazine 'Resistance.'
"This movement realizes that when governments and politicians refuse to act to protect the planet, it is up to all of" [...]
Number of comments: 0 My previous post- 'House Passes Anti-Ag Health Care Bill' I expanded on some comments that I had left there in response to an editorial entitled Snack Attack ( which I was in favor of).
Number of comments: 0 A recent editorial in the Richmond Times Dispatch brings up the provision in the now passed house health care bill that regulates snack machines.
The snack machine provision certainly does characterize not only this bill, but the general condescending attitude that our leaders have towards science and [...]
Number of comments: 0 The politics of green: (link)
"This movement realizes that when governments and politicians refuse to act to protect the planet, it is up to all of us to step in and protect our home. And the only logic way that this protection may occur is to understand" [...]
Number of comments: 0 Despite the fact that research from George Mason University's Mercatus Center indicates that soda taxes would have to be in excess of 1200% to be effective, and despite little to no evidence linking soft drinks consumption to obesity, and despite the fact that sugar contains 50% fructose compared to 42%' [...]
Number of comments: 0 This post by Mankiw raises some questions I'm not sure I can answer.This involves allocating scarce resources(vaccine) given the constraints imposed by population genetics and epidemeology as they relate to the virus.
The following example ( although unrelated pathology) shows how markets work in the livestock industry' [...]
Number of comments: 0 When we think of sustainable food production, we may often think about niche markets like local or organic, although there is some bickering among producers about which is more sustainable. See the Marginal Revolution: for a look at this in terms of food miles, or here from Environmental [...]
Number of comments: 0 In a past post I made note of the following quote from an issue of Nature Biotechnology:
"Obama is clearly a science buff, and is really, honestly, into knowing the facts, having them laid out, and then making the best choices that can be mustered," says a policy watcher [...]
Number of comments: 1 It is Constitution Day, and considering the massive amount of spending we have seen in Washington, the confiscation of private enterprises, as well as the increasing amount of regulation and loss of personal liberty ( including our freedom to produce and consume the foods we want or drive the kinds [...]
Number of comments: 0 The author ( Brain Walsh) of the highly scrutinized TIME magazine article "Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food" was recently interviewed on the radio program Agritalk ( audio) . The host of the program expressed concern that many readers might have had difficulty recognizing that [...]
Number of comments: 0 Pollan, in a lot of his writings tries to make connection between corn syrup and obesity and the connection between farm 'subsidies' and corn syrup. I would like to know exactly which 'subsidies' he is talking about. I'm not sure that countercyclical payment or loan deficiency payment type programs at' [...]
Number of comments: 3 In a recent article in Time Magazine, ( Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food) I think that I have witnessed one of the worst pieces of pseudo science I've seen in a long time.
Isn't obesity the result of diet, genetics, and exercise? Personal [...]
Number of comments: 0 Our founders certainly had a good idea of the things that Government may be more effective at, as indicated in the specifically enumerated powers of A1S8 of the constitution.
There are cases, in general where, government may have a role ( when goods are non rival and nonexclusive- [...]
Number of comments: 2 Governments allocate resources in a fundamentally different way than free individuals behaving cooperatively in voluntary exchange via market capitalism. Individuals acting in their own interest results in a spontanous order guided by prices which reflect tradeoffs based on the knowledge and preferences of millions of individuals. Governments allocate resources based [...]
Number of comments: 0 I have yet to hear a discussion from our leaders about how a fiscal (spending) stimulus will work now when similar policies failed during the great depression under Roosevelt and Hoover. The first $787 stimulus was passed despite numerous warnings from some of the worlds best and most prominent [...]
Number of comments: 0 Is Sarah Palin inarticulate? On what basis of comparison? Would this be an issue if she were to actually run for president?
Maybe not. Despite both President Obama's confusion about basic economics, gaffs, and inarticulate mishaps, he was quite successful in his campaign. For example see [...]
Number of comments: 0 Maybe, maybe not. Sarah Palin does not have to run for president to make a difference for the republican party or the country. As she is, she is a force for change regardless, by setting and example for the rest of the party. The best thing to have happened to [...]
Number of comments: 0 Freedom rallies, also known as tea parties by some, have been proliferate these past few months. What are they all about?
One of the first criticisms that comes to mind is 'where were all of these protesters under Bush'? No one was happy about the expansion of medicare [...]
Number of comments: 0 The agriculture industry has and will continue to come under attach for contributing to obesity. These attacks are based on narrow special interests and ideology, but they will be used to justify more regulation and an attack on the personal liberties of millions of Americans. It will be done in [...]
Number of comments: 0 Recently there has been a lot of hype created regarding the creation of 'green jobs' and even excitement that the creation of green jobs may help stimulate the economy. This may be counter to what we would expect given basic economic theory.
Number of comments: 0 Steve Cornett of AgWeb sums it up pretty well. My response to his post and commentors:
Thanks for sharing this.These sentiments reflect a basic unbiased, common sense science based response to Food Inc. which from what I gather is turning out to be using the prestige of science [...]
Number of comments: 0 Another example of the 'Invisible Green Hand' at work. This time in the dairy industry. See link here.
Excerpt:
"The study shows that the carbon footprint for a gallon of milk produced in 2007 was only 37 percent of that produced in 1944. Improved efficiency" [...]
Number of comments: 0 A recent story on National Public Radio ( link) gives an overview of a subfield of economics called behavioral economics. Behavioral economics incorporates elements of psychology into economic theory. Some people believe that behavioral economics will improve economic models because it makes a correction for what they believe are [...]
Trying to handle the crisis, the Fascist government nationalized the holdings of large banks which had accrued significant industrial securities. The government also issued new securities to provide a source of credit for the banks and began enlisting the help of various cartels…. [...]
The mega-irony of the Republican Party: that of all people conservatives ought to have been the first to grasp the dangers of unregulated markets. If big government is susceptible to the abuses of "sinful" human beings, how much more susceptible is a corporate system that is' [...]
"applying interventions to control foodborne pathogens in general, rather than focusing on antibiotic-resistant strains specifically, would have the greatest impact in reducing overall foodborne illnesses."
Number of comments: 0 From a recent issue of Nature Biotechnology:
"Obama is clearly a science buff, and is really, honestly, into knowing the facts, having them laid out, and then making the best choices that can be mustered," says a policy watcher who was close to the transition team but is outside [...]
Number of comments: 0 Markets generate prices which reflect trade-offs based on the knowledge and preferences of millions of individuals, and provide incentives to act on that knowledge to allocate resources. Eliminating the price mechanism through national health care only takes the information and coordination problem away from markets, and places it in the [...]
Number of comments: 0 According to a story this past weekend, when it comes to defense, defense secretary Robert Gates said that President Obama was more analytical than former President Bush.
Number of comments: 0 Back in September Peter Wallison wrote a piece debunking the myth that deregulation was the cause of our financial shortfalls these past couple of years. One thing that he noted was :
"It is correct to say that there has been significant deregulation in the U.S. over the" [...]
Number of comments: 0 Despite the risk it poses to an already troubled economy, Obama decides to go ahead with major tax increases as well as beef up enforcement and close loopholes. What a way to dry up already scarce capital. [...]
Real Clear Economics- Shorting the Stimulus Deregulation and the Financial Panic- WSJ Santelli's Tea Party - Video Faber- Boom & Bust WSJ Obama's Rhetoric is the Real 'Catastrophe' -WSJ [...]
Number of comments: 0 "What I won't do is return to the failed theories of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place, because those theories have been tested, and they have failed. And that's part of what the election in November was all about." P.O.T.U.S.
Number of comments: 0 Mr. President, there are some of us in Middle America that you should get to know. Many of us earn between $25,000 -$60,000 per year, some of us may earn more. We have very little to gain from a bigger government with trillion dollar deficits. $13 /week probably won’t make [...]
Number of comments: 0 Here you will find the transcript of questions and answers given during our president’s first press conference.
It seems that our president is taking the lead on promoting much more of a 'Keyenesian' style stimulus, with little interest in providing incentives through tax cuts.
Number of comments: 1 PROMOTING THE GENERAL WELFARE
Recently I was involved in a discussion regarding the constitutionality of national health care. Someone pointed out that it was constitutional on that same basis as Social Security, based on the supreme court’s decision Helvering v. Davis (1937) The justification was based on the General [...]
When a reporter brought up the fact that Al Queda was not in Iraq prior to the invasion, former president Bush has been reported to have said 'So What.' Of course he has been greatly ridiculed about this.That is just one exhibit of [...]
Number of comments: 0 Recently it has came out that Barak Obama plans to take the idea of rasing gasoline taxes off the table. This is a great call, and may show testament that we have elected a leader that will bring real ‘change’ to the Whitehouse. Genuine change would mean that he is [...]
Number of comments: 1 I recently came across this disturbing story. It is speculation that the EPA may want to impose air pollution taxes on cattle and hog producer's.
One person in the article is quoted as saying: "We certainly support making factory farms pay their fair share," he said. [...]
Number of comments: 0 This post has become a tradition for me on this blog, with excerpts from a posting at the Foundation for Economic Education . Many may also have heard this story as told by Rush Limbaugh on his radio show.
Thanksgiving was not about the Pilgrims embracing diversity [...]
" There is no doubt that food issues will be increasingly important in coming years, as agriculture is stressed by climate change, dwindling petroleum supplies, and environmental degradation in the form of" [...]
Number of comments: 0 A fairly recent Newsweek article entitled : ‘Spread The Wealth? What’s New?’ argues that progressive taxation inherently spreads wealth and is nothing new in American politics. It is essentially asserted that even the Bush and Regan tax cuts maintained a 'progressive' tax system, and because of this, both Bush [...]
Number of comments: 0 I hope that yesterday's election was more a referendum on the Bush administration ( although I believe history will prove him to have been a great American hero)and much less an endorsement for socialism.
That being said I congratulate our new president, and hope to turn back to topics' [...]
Number of comments: 0 Eight years of a failed philosophy? Again history has shown that the failed philosophy we need to be concerned about is socialism not capitalism and freedom. The excerpts from the NYT article below provide more evidence that the recent financial crisis is not the result of unfettered markets, but [...]
Number of comments: 0 Aside from the fact that we have socialized interest rates via the fed, which have resulted in every boom and bust of the last century, and despite the socialist ideology behind Freddie and Fannie there is a misconception that the current financial crisis is the result of free markets!
If you view last nights debate strictly on the terms of point-counterpoint arguments, then it might be hard to argue who really won. Some have said that the VP debate is really irrelevant to their ultimate decision, as the contest is between Obama and McCain. [...]
Number of comments: 0 If we are experiencing depression era problems in the markets , should we adopt the same depression era policies that exacerbated it?
Number of comments: 0 In the past 6 months, when polled, voters have favored democrat candidates over republicans by a wide margin. Why is this?
Many voters have been unhappy with President Bush. I believe this is largely due to the media perception that he brought us into an unnecessary war in [...]
Number of comments: 2 “This country can't afford another four years of this failed philosophy" Barak Obama stated today referring to ‘the Bush Economy’ and the current financial turmoil on Wall Street.
In her interview, Sarah Palin was asked to specifically list 3 policies that she would enact that are contradictory'" [...]
Number of comments: 2 There is nothing wrong with wanting to grow or eat your own food, or get it from your neighbor, if that's your choice. We all should have to power to decide how we spend our money. More and more schools and government organizations are promoting and purchasing local food under' [...]
Number of comments: 0 One of the policy recommendations for the policy guide for the documentary ‘Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?’, is to support guaranteed and culturally competent quality healthcare, access, and treatment for all.
Of all of the inconsistent policy proposals included in the policy guide, this one is [...]
Number of comments: 0 In a previous post I mentioned the inconsistency in policy recommendations with regard to food and agriculture as outlined in the policy guide for the documentary ‘Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?’
Next I will discuss problems with their policies regarding housing and wealth. They recommend policies that [...]
Number of comments: 1 I recently came across ‘Unnatural Causes’ a 7 part documentary about racial and economic inequalities in public health. I have not watched it, but I did download the policy guide :
The main theme seems to be (that) ‘Building a social movement that can advocate effectively [...]
Number of comments: 2 Usually I don't write posts this long, but in light of the coming Independence Day holiday, and recent supreme court decision, both the length and the subject matter of this post are an exception.
The second amendment reads as follows:
‘A well regulated militia, being necessary to [...]
Number of comments: 0 With the increase in commodity prices, including agricultural and energy futures, many critics have come down hard on speculators. Some are calling for more regulation including increased margin requirements, or requirements for players to actually take delivery of the products.
Number of comments: 3 Recently in the news there was a story about environmentalists targeting obese individuals as being major contributors to global warming. When the interviewer basically asked how an obese individual’s carbon footprint fromsitting on the couch all day compared with someone like a skinny Barbie girl that went to work, drove [...]
Number of comments: 0 The economic problem of society is more than just achieving an optimal or just allocation of resources. It is easy to formulate a ‘positive’ solution mathematically, where P = marginal rate of substitution between any two goods or factors of production, balancing the costs and benefits of some activity. It [...]
Number of comments: 0 According to a recent article in ‘Parade’ included in my Sunday paper, “Sens. Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R., Maine) introduced a bill to end the practice of feeding antibiotics used to cure human illnesses to chickens, cattle, sheep and pigs.”
Number of comments: 2 Given all of the environmental and health benefits from biotech foods, you would think that more supporters of organic production and 'sustainble agriculture' would be supportive of biotech crops. I'm not here to bash organic production, because I think that there is a market for everyone. However, research indicates that [...]
Number of comments: 0 I concluded my last entry on tax cuts and budget deficits by stating that there could be cases theoretically where Mankiw’s assumption about the failure of Ricardian Equivalence could be true.
I did provide some empirical evidence for a case where his conclusions about the detrimental effects from [...]
Number of comments: 0 In my previous post, I concluded with findings by Mankiw that if consumers are uncertain about their future incomes and tax liability, Ricardian Equivalence may fail. This assumes that deficits are produced from the tax cuts.
What if there are no deficits? Then there will be no need [...]
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