Michael Giberson Stanford’s alumni association magazine has a good article on recent economics Nobelist Al Roth. Several things about the article will trigger resistance among some free market readers, beginning with the title (“The Visible Hand”) and the subhead (A new breed of economist, Alvin Roth brings an engineering sensibility to fixing markets.). Deep into …
Michael Giberson Steven Hayward makes the unremarkable observation that the EPA is politicized followed by the somewhat surprising recommendation to fix things by adding more political appointees at the top! He recommends a five-person commission structure within which no more than three are of the same party affiliation, similar to the arrangement governing the Federal …
Would Five Epa Commissioners Be Better Than One Epa Administrator? Read More »
Michael Giberson Last week saw announcement of the Electric Markets Research Foundation. The group plans “to fund unbiased research that will examine the track records of centralized electricity markets and traditionally regulated markets in providing affordable and reliable supplies of power as well as meeting clean energy, transmission and environmental needs.” The news release continues: “There is a …
New Group Formed to Promote Research in U.s. Electric Power Markets Read More »
Michael Giberson Next time you see one of those “This product may contain up to 10 percent ethanol” stickers on a gas pump, ask yourself why federal government biofuel policies are forcing you to help increase hunger and hardship among poor Guatemalans. Sure, politicians in their comfortable offices in Washington, DC, didn’t intend to help …
Newly showing up in the “price gouging” news searches: claims of price gouging on guns.
Michael Giberson I ended my semester in “Energy and Environmental Economics” talking about resource optimism and resource pessimism, framed mostly as a big picture debate between Julian Simon and others against Paul Ehrlich and Neo-Malthusians. Simon reports being puzzled at how folks could look at data showing human health and well-being getting better and better …
Michael Giberson Today the Master Resource blog published my list of ten price gouging topics needing economic research. As I point out in the introduction, many economists think price gouging is too simple to be worth studying. After all, it is just a kind of price cap, and we know how price caps work. My response is that …
Economics Research Topics in Price Gouging from Odd-even Rationing to Guilt and Shame Read More »
Michael Giberson Timothy Taylor observes Census Bureau data showing “geographic mobility in 2011 were at their all-time low since the start of the data in 1948, and were only a tad higher in 2012.” Here is the Census Bureau chart illustrating the data: Taylor considers a number of possible explanations, including many explored in a …
Michael Giberson Is price gouging like highway robbery? The Journal News, from the suburbs north of New York City, said: “Add shame to penalty for gouging“: Given the extraordinary cost of just about everything in New York, it is often difficult to distinguish price-gouging, which is both illegal and despicable, from the usual highway robbery, …
New York Newspaper Says “Add Shame to Penalty for Gouging” Read More »
Michael Giberson One idea advanced by proponents of anti-price gouging laws is that after disaster strikes people should put aside their usual self-interests, join in with the community, and share in the burden of recovery. What these proponents often miss is that normal market adjustments will support a sharing in the burden of recovery, even …
New Yorkers Didn’t ‘share the Pain’ of Higher Gasoline Prices During Emergency Read More »
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