Archive for August, 2006
Free Economics Textbook
R. Preston McAfee, the J. Stanley Johnson Professor of Business, Economics & Management at the California Institute of Technology, has written an excellent economics textbook entitled Introduction to Economic Analysis. This book is above the level of the standard intermediate undergraduate textbook but not at the level of a doctoral textbook like Kreps or Mas-Colell, [...]
August 19, 2006
Posted in: Economics 
No Comments
Help the Poor: Leave Wal-Mart Alone
As the 2006 mid-term election season heats up, Joseph Biden is publicly taking Wal-Mart to task, criticizing the retailer for paying low wages and not caring about the middle class. In addition, Democratic-leaning Chicago has ordered bog-box retail to pay a minimum of $10 per hour plus at least $3 per hours in benefits to [...]
August 17, 2006
Posted in: Policy No Comments
New York: The Cheapest Place on Earth
I live in New York City. There is a good side to this and there is a bad side to this. On the good side, you have access to an unmatched menu of bars, restaurants, Lady Libertymuseums, music, comedy, and theater. On the bad side, you are happy to find a one-bedroom apartment for less [...]
August 15, 2006
Posted in: Economics No Comments
Buyer Beware When Climbing Everest
The September issue of Outside Magazine covers climbing deaths on Mount Everest. The focus of the story by Ed Douglas is on the guides, and whether or not, poor guiding is a cause in the increased number of deaths on Everest. It is not clear that there really is an increasing risk, because more and [...]
August 15, 2006
Posted in: Economics, Policy No Comments
The Potential Cost of Terror
Often in the world of public policy we are asked to value things that do not have intrinsic monetary value: what is the value of seeing a sunset, what is the value of a safer car, or what is the value of knowing that the capital of Nevada is not Las Vegas. With today’s announcement [...]
August 10, 2006
Posted in: Economics, Policy No Comments
