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Category Archives: Economics
Trick or Treat? A Reverse Dutch Auction of Puerto Rico’s Public Debts
This is the most novel solution to Puerto Rico’s current debt crisis we’ve studied thus far, an idea attributed to Professor Arturo Estrella, an economist at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York State. (We say “attributed to” because we can’t … Continue reading
Posted in Current Affairs, Economics, Law
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An Aviation Thought Experiment (Public Choice Edition)
Hola! We have been invited to speak about a federal law known as “the Jones Act” during today’s “fiscal crisis” panel of the Encuentro Nacional de la Diaspora Puertorriquena. (The “Encuentro Nacional” will take place at El Centro Borinqueno, which … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Law
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Epstein’s Critique of Hayek (Part 2)
In our previous post, we identified (via the loquacious Professor Richard Epstein) a potential contradiction in Hayek’s influential theory of “spontaneous order.” Briefly, decentralized markets are a good example of a spontaneous order, but markets require a set of rules … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Law, Philosophy
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Epstein’s Critique of Hayek (Part 1)
We recently attended Richard Epstein’s lecture at George Mason University on “The Continuing Relevance of Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty.” (Disclosure: we are big fans of Epstein’s book “Simple Rules for a Complex World.”) In his lecture, Epstein delivered several devastating blows against … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Law, Philosophy
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Double-edged swords (Bank Secrecy Act edition)
There is a fascinating and lively academic literature on the law and economics of the crime of blackmail. (Type in the word “blackmail” in Google Scholar and let the fun begin; also, for what it’s worth, you will find our … Continue reading
A friendly critique of Steve Coast’s critique of rules
We stumbled upon this excellent essay (“The world will only get weirder”) by Steve Coast via the hyper-productive Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution (our second-favorite website, by the way). In summary, Mr Coast argues that there is an inverse relation between … Continue reading
Crimes against economic logic (“lump of labor fallacy” edition)
Check out Adam Davidson’s explanation of the so-called Lump of Labor Fallacy in his essay “Debunking the Myth of the Job-Stealing Immigrant.” Here is an excerpt from Mr Davidson’s excellent essay (edited by us for brevity):
Jury Duty
Juries play an essential role in Anglo-American legal systems, and now that many countries like the U.S. have abolished compulsory military service, jury duty provides a rare civic opportunity to work with your fellow citizens for the greater good. For our part, … Continue reading
Nudge theory in practice? (Singapore utility bill edition)
Do you consume more electricity than your neighbors? How about when compared to the national average? Via the amazing Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution. Read more about “nudge theory” here.
Two cheers for Lee Kuan Yew …
A pragmatic politician, a benevolent despot (he was prime minister of polyglot Singapore for 31 years), or … the most influential statesman of our time? (Image courtesy of The Encyclopaedia Britannica.)
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Current Affairs, Economics, History, Law, Politics
Tagged Economic Development, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore
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prior probability 