Lynne Kiesling
I have to embed myself in Deep Thought today on a paper for a conference in September, so will have to content myself with offering you these links for your consideration:
- Patri Friedman’s Catallarchy post “Pigouvian taxes are not efficient if the money gets wasted”. This is a hugely important point, and is one reason why, unlike Greg Mankiw, I am not a member of the Pigou Club. Top-down governments cannot determine the “optimal” Pigouvian tax, except by accident; furthermore, through political economy and public choice dynamics, that tax revenue frequently gets wasted, as Patri notes. I would argue that if instead government policy focuses on reducing transaction costs that prevent parties from negotiating, and implementing cap-and-trade markets in situations where those transaction costs are prohibitive, then we can all become members of the Coase Club.
- Chicago Fed economist Bill Testa notes on their blog the new Midwest economy website at the Chicago Fed. Full of good, relevant, local economic information.
- I didn’t realize Jeff Miron had a blog until recently. Jeff’s work on the economics of alcohol prohibition in the US in the 1920s is phenomenal.
- I am not an expert in the trade/budget “twin deficit” area, so I find Don Boudreaux’s response to Nouriel Roubini’s analyses of the issue helpful and illuminating, particularly if you read through the set of linked articles.
- Want to wear your “free trade is mutually beneficial” heart on your wrist? Then get one of these wristbands from the Adam Smith Institute. Although the post doesn’t specify, I assume that ASI purchased them from a vendor that sources them from a poor country ;-). Oh, yes, I just noted from Tim Worstall that my assumption is correct.
- In the wake of last week’s Chicago City Council vote to enact the “big box minimum wage” (which is an affront to efficiency, equity, morality, and individual liberty), Lowe’s joins Wal-Mart and Target in shelving plans to open stores in the city. I can’t believe the extent to which my adopted hometown has become the standard-bearer for the Nanny State, between this item, the foie gras rule, the car cell phone rule, the proposed trans fat rule, the proposed dog chip implantation rule …
- If you are interested in the types of issues covered here at KP, you should also be checking out Organizations and Markets.