~marginalrevolution | Bookmarks (47)

Here is the link, I am reviewing a bad book on the Clinton administration (A Fabulous Failure, by Lichtenstein and Stern).  Here is one excerpt: Clinton-era welfare reform is another area where many commentators go astray, and Lichtenstein and Stein are no exception. The Clinton pronouncement “I have a plan to end welfare as we […] The post My TLS essay on the Clinton...

Greg Clark may well be the most important social scientist of the 21st century. His use of historical data informed by evolutionary theory and genetics is a unique contribution to social science with important and challenging results. Clark’s latest paper (with Neil Cummins) makes a simple but striking point. If the primary systematic determinant of […] The post Matriline versus Patriline: Social Mobility in...

That is my podcast with Cardiff Garcia, now on-line and with transcript too.  Cardiff proposed a novel approach: Who is the Magic Johnson of economics? Who was the Adam Smith of basketball? On this fun and oddball episode of The New Bazaar, Cardiff speaks with Tyler Cowen, economist and author of GOAT: Who is the […] The post If econs could hoop — The...

It was meant as an insult, implying that Mises – a marginalist – was trying to salvage 19th century liberal economics from the collectivist attacks of the Marxist left and the Nazi right, hence the “neo” moniker being attached. One of the main promoters of this use was Othmar Spann, a rival of Mises on […] The post From the beginning, “neoliberalism” was an...

East India Company founded — 1600 Shakespeare – Hamlet published 1603 England starting to settle America – 1607 in Virginia, assorted, you could add Harvard here as well King James Bible – 1611 The beginnings of steady economic growth – 1620 (Greg Clark, JPE) Rule of law ideas, common law ideas, Sir Edward Coke – […] The post What happened in 17th century England...

Yes I will be doing a Conversation with him.  Here is one outdated bit from his home page: Benjamin Moser was born in Houston. He is the author of Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector, a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award and a New York Times Notable Book of 2009. For his work bringing Clarice […] The post What should I ask Benjamin Moser?...

Here is the audio, video, and transcript, here is the episode summary: Rebecca F. Kuang just might change the way you think about fantasy and science fiction. Known for her best-selling books Babel and The Poppy War trilogy, Kuang combines a unique blend of historical richness and imaginative storytelling. At just 27, she’s already published five novels, and her […] The post My Conversation with Rebecca F. Kuang...

No one’s family name was changed, altered, shortened, butchered, or “written down wrong” at Ellis Island or any American port. That idea is an urban legend. Many names did get changed as immigrants settled into their new American lives, but those changes were made several years after arrival and were done by choice of someone in […] The post No One’s Name Was Changed at...

The Center for the History of Political Economy at Duke University will be hosting another Summer Institute on the History of Economics from June 3-12, 2024. The program is designed for students in graduate programs in economics, though students in graduate school in other fields as well as newly minted PhDs will also be considered. […] The post Duke History of Economic Thought Summer...

The country was not quite as rich in the early days as it is sometimes made out to be: Argentina’s performance on this measure is frequently exaggerated.  In 1929, for example, Argentina’s per capita income was less than half of the average of other temperate agrarian societies (such as Canada and Australia) and of European […] The post Argentina fact of the day appeared...

But a hundred years ago, birds were seen as the best remedy for the weeds and insect pests that threatened the country’s food supply and cost farmers hundreds of millions of dollars every year. And in order to identify the precise impact that birds had on agriculture, a field called economic ornithology was born. According […] The post Economic ornithology appeared first on Marginal...

“The counterfeiter probably didn’t realize that that coin didn’t exist,” Dr. Ortega said. He said that an influx of low-value coinage would have been welcomed in Peru at the dawn of the 20th century. The country’s economy was reeling from the recent War of the Pacific, and the government was focusing on printing larger-denomination paper […] The post The efficiency of counterfeiting in 19th...

History of Economic Thought syllabus The honor code applies to this class. Accommodations will be made for disabilities in accord with the policies of George Mason University. Your grade is 2/3 based on your paper, 1/3 based on a final exam. You are required to submit short progress reports on your paper on a regular […] The post My history of economic thought reading...

Here is the underlying John-Burn Murdoch FT piece, pointer here.  And a text excerpt: Ruxandra Teslo, one of a growing community of progress-focused writers at the nexus of science, economics and policy, argues that the growing scepticism around technology and the rise in zero-sum thinking in modern society is one of the defining ideological challenges […] The post We need more talk of progress...

He is starting a new podcast and I am perhaps the first episode?  There is video and text and audio.  Here is an excerpt: Lindsey: Did they recognize early on that you were different and that they had a job to do to push you, or no? Cowen: Well, my father thought I was weird, so he […] The post My podcast with Brink Lindsey appeared...

The subtitle is How German-Speaking Scientists and Engineers Invented the Modern World, And What We Can Learn from Them .  This is a 5501 (!) pp. work, published on-line.  I haven’t read it yet.  By Todd H. Rider.  It’s probably good. The post *Forgotten Creators* appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to murmur. What is your ethnic background? Let the ... by...

But unlike a full-grown T. rex, which would be about the size of a city bus, this dinosaur was more like the size of a pickup truck. The specimen, which is now listed for sale for $20 million at an art gallery in London, raises a question that has come to obsess paleontologists: Is it simply a […] The post The economics of dinosaur brand names...

Good Binyamin Appelbaum piece on the difficulties of building in NYC. The data will be familiar but I especially appreciate this vibe which we need more of: I hope someday I’ll be walking with my children on the Lower East Side or the Upper West Side or Brooklyn Heights. We’ll pass one of the places […] The post A City Not a Museum appeared...

Using textual analysis of 173,031 works printed in England between 1500 and 1900, we test whether British culture evolved to manifest a heightened belief in progress associated with science and industry. Our analysis yields three main findings. First, there was a separation in the language of science and religion beginning in the 17th century. Second, […] The post A textual analysis of Enlightenment ideals...

He is of the Mises Institute, so plenty of talk about Mises and the Austrians as well. Bob is very smart and widely read.  The other links are here: https://mises.org/library/tyler-cowen-goat-economics, https://soundcloud.com/misesmedia/tyler-cowen-on-the-goat-in-economics The post My GOAT podcast with Robert Murphy appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to President of Marginal Revolution. We are ... by AnneIn reply to Cancelled for wongthink. As I've...

The current Harvard disaster was clearly signaled by earlier events, most notably the 2019 firing of Dean Ronald Sullivan. Sullivan is a noted criminal defense attorney; he was the director of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and he is the Director of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School, he […] The post The Sullivan Signal: Harvard’s Failure to...

An excellent review, here is one excerpt: Oddly enough he leaves out several economists who many consider possible GOATs: From the British school, David Ricardo (Milton Friedman’s favorite); from the Monetarists, Irving Fisher (whom James Tobin ranked “the greatest economist America has produced”); from the Austrians, Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard (which the Mises Institute would consider leaving out unforgiveable); from the Institutionalists, Thorstein Veblen (who Max […] The post Mark Skousen reviews *GOAT* appeared first...

That is the new memoir from Glenn C. Loury, and I cracked it open right away, here is one excerpt: But now Harvard is looking to retool its ailing Afro-American Studies department, and Tom [Schelling] serves on the committee whose job it is to recruit new faculty worthy of the institution.  The chair of that […] The post *Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black...