Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
What is the optimal asset allocation? Of course the answer to this question depends on where you are in life and your tolerance for risk. A retired person who is 70 years old likely should have a higher percentage of their assets invested in money market funds and bonds than a 35 year old with…
The New York Times (“…the Money Value of a Personâs Life“) has a non-technical article describing how economists value a year of life. One standard methodology–the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) is discussed. “The idea of QALY is to put a value on treatments that may not save lives but improve them. For example, if a…
This Sunday’s New York Times’ Magazine has a bunch of interesting, non-technical articles about income inequality. Should we globalize labor too? “[Development Economist Lant Pritchett] likens the limits on labor mobility to ‘apartheid on a global scale.’” The Inequality Conundrum. Roger Lowestein discusses the age-old debate between equity and efficiency. Larry Summer’s Evolution. “The history…
UCSD professor Gordon Hanson‘s recent work on immigration was recently cited in The Economist (“Guests v Gatecrashers“). The article states: Its laws of motion are set out in a recent paper [‘The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration‘] by Gordon Hanson of the University of California, San Diego. He points out that unskilled labour is increasingly…
Everyone has heard of the Asian Tigers. The countries of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan are four countries who have experienced significant economic growth over recent decades. Due to the meteoric rise in the economic indicators in these countries, many economists have named them the Asian Tigers. But what about the African Leopards? …
For those who rant about the evils of globalization, let us examine the Sushi Economy. NPR’s Marketplace discusses The Sushi Economy book with its author Sasha Issenberg. Mr. Issenberg talks about how globalization has made the sushi industry a reality in the modern world. Technological improvements in travel and communication have lead to an increased…
For non-economists, mental_floss’ book Condensed Knowledge: A deliciously Irreverent Guide to Feeling Smart Again has brief bio’s on 6 of the most famous economists. Each person’s contribution to economics is sucinctly described in a non-technical manner. Click here to see the excerpt. The six economists chosen are: Adam Smith David Ricardo John Maynard Keynes Joseph…
An interesting article from Slate discusses an NBER working paper by Paul Oyer (“The Macro-Foundations of Microeconomics: Initial Labor Market Conditions and Long-Term Outcomes for Economists“). Oyer wonders whether or not initial job placement at a high ranking university affects long-term job prospects. Of course, the problem with this analysis is that graduate students with…
The concept of diminishing return is one that pervades much of economics. A Health Affairs article (“U.S Health Care Spending…“) by health economist Uwe Reinhardt and co-authors claims that since the U.S. spends more per-person on health care, the marginal benefit of any treatment is low due to diminishing returns. This hypothesis got me thinking…
A working paper by Yolanda K. Kodrzycki and Pingkang David Yu of the Boston Fed attempts to rank economic journals according to their: 1) impact within the Economics field, 2) overall impact, 3) Policy Impact and 4) impact on non-economic journals. The top 10 journals in each category are as follows: Within Economics Overall Impact…