Good luck to @tedvickey defending his PhD thesis at NUIG soon.
11 minutes ago
Archive for October, 2011
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Can Spaceship Earth Carry Seven Billion Passengers, and More to Come?
According to the United Nations, the world population will reach 7 billion people this week. No one really knows the exact date, but the announcement has sparked a round of commentary, most of it pessimistic. The doubling of the world’s population over the past 50 years is the most rapid in history. Demographers expect another [...]
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US GDP Growth Stronger in Q3 as Economy Enters Expansion
There was a bit of joy in yesterday’s advance estimate of U.S. Q3 GDP both for traditionalists who focus on the real value of output (RGDP) and for the growing number of economists who track the nominal value (NGDP). Real output was reported to have grown by 2.5 percent in the quarter, a bit stronger [...]
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Only Economists Can Save the Planet
Gernot Wagner’s But Will the Planet Notice? is the book I would like to get my neighbors to read. The ones who use canvas shopping bags, take short showers, recycle, and think that is enough. The ones who think “environmental economics” is an oxymoron. The ones who think concepts like markets, incentives, and property are [...]
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The Senate’s Currency Manipulation Bill Is Not Only Bad Policy, but Unnecessary
China’s currency manipulation is bad policy. So is the Senate’s latest crackdown on it. The bill passed yesterday is not only bad policy, but unnecessary. Here’s why. First of all, before we get hysterical about Chinese policy, we should recognize that currency manipulation is the global norm, not the exception. By a recent count, only [...]
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What the Wall Street Protesters Want: An Economic Commentary on the “Contract for the American Dream.”
Nearly every news story I read about the occupation of Wall Street begins by saying that the protesters are vague about what they want. Even Paul Krugman, who is supportive of the demonstrations, complains in today’s New York TImes about a lack of specific policy demands. Maybe that is a valid critique of individual protestors, [...]
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How Gordon Brown Saved Britain from the Euro and Why that Makes him a Hero
In his new book, Alistair Darling describes Gordon Brown’s political style as “appalling,” “volcanic,” and “brutal.” He should know. The two men sat together in the cabinet for years while Brown was chancellor. Darling then served as chancellor himself when Brown finally became prime minister. Now that Brown is out of office, it seems he [...]
