Not surprisingly, given the title of this blog and the focus of my research, the last video in the series for my history of economic thought course provides an introduction to Hayek and the knowledge problem. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/76456397] Hayek’s work in the 20th century explored a range of ideas, one of the most important of …
History of Thought Course Video: Hayek and the Knowledge Problem Read More »
Paul Sabin’s The Bet offers perhaps the best-researched, best-written and most thorough account of the history and meaning of the famous 1980 bet between population pessimist Paul Ehrlich and resource optimist Julian Simon. Sabin is unceasingly fair in his treatment of the antagonists, a tough trick to pull off when working with such charged material. …
An article by Robert Fleck of Clemson, forthcoming in the International Review of Law and Economics, presented a theoretical case that price gouging restrictions can be value-enhancing under certain conditions. I was skeptical, but Fleck is careful in building his case. The key qualifier above is under certain conditions. In “Can Prohibitions on ‘Price Gouging’ …
Anti-price Gouging Laws Can Increase Economic Welfare Read More »
Flooding in Colorado has caused damage across nearly 2,000 square miles of the state. While many businesses are chipping in to help people affected, some people are concerned that lack of a state anti-price gouging law leaves consumers exposed to unjust price increases. A Denver Post story begins: Flood-ravaged Colorado is one of only 15 …
I’m intruding on David Zetland’s turf, but in this 2012 Guardian article from 2012 Roger Cowe makes some compelling arguments about why agricultural water subsidies lead to perverse outcomes, do not help the poor, and waste a precious, scarce resource. Water is the only industry in which regulation more perversely stifles self-organizing processes for managing scarcity …
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/75421736] Another video from my history of economic thought course — this time it’s Joseph Schumpeter, famous for his work on economic growth and innovation. Schumpeter was an inconoclastic economist who was influential well beyond his reputation. From his education and original academic and civil service work in Austria, Schumpeter went on to a long, …
Course Video 8: Joseph Schumpeter, Economic Growth, and Creative Destruction Read More »
State regulation of electric utilities began in earnest about 1907 and by around 1920 almost all states had begun state regulation. Prior to state regulation, most electric utilities were regulated through city-issued franchise agreements. Was state regulation of privately-owned electric utilities efficiency enhancing relative to the municipal franchise regulation of electric utilities that preceded it? …
Continuing Debate over the Economic Origins of Electric Utility Regulation Read More »
From StateImpact Texas, a joint effort of radio station KUT Austin and KUHF Houston, a report that consumption of electric power in Texas isn’t growing as fast as expected: As the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) considers changing the electricity market so there’s more money to build new power plants, a mystery has popped up: …
Power Demand in Texas Grows More Slowly Than Forecasted Read More »
The Energy Information Administration’s “Today in Energy” series shows with a couple of charts how growing wind power output in the Southwest Power Pool region is cutting into the income of baseload power plants. The effect matters because baseload power plants tend to have the lowest operating costs. As baseload plants get pushed off the …
Eia Shows Higher Wind Power Output Cutting into Baseload Power Generation Read More »
Ronald Coase passed away yesterday, four months shy of his 103rd birthday and working right up to the end. An archive search here shows how deeply Coase’s work influences Mike’s and mine, and we are not alone — Coase was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, an influence made even more …
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