Economics

The Perplexing Economics of US Capital Flowing Into the EPL: Lessons For Hockey?

Lynne Kiesling As a Liverpool FC fan (or, more accurately, a Xabi Alonso fan), I have been watching the impending sale of the team with great interest. The back-and-forth over the holidays between the current owners and the Dubai investment club that had an offer on the table, and the interjection of the interest of …

The Perplexing Economics of US Capital Flowing Into the EPL: Lessons For Hockey? Read More »

Wanted: Economic Analysis of Urban Rail Transportation

Lynne Kiesling One of the big stories in Chicago at the moment is the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), its expenditures, and its management decisions. Last week I mentioned the ongoing construction and expansion of the Brown Line stations, as well as Time Out Chicago’s set of feature articles. But there’s more frustration and discontent simmering …

Wanted: Economic Analysis of Urban Rail Transportation Read More »

Temperature, Oil Prices, and Weather Derivatives

Lynne Kiesling Ooooh, baby, it’s cold outside! The cold snap affecting a large proportion of the U.S. population is placing upward pressure on oil prices, particularly because the cold snap is affecting U.S. regions that rely more on home heating oil than natural gas or electric heating: The onset of cold weather in the U.S. …

Temperature, Oil Prices, and Weather Derivatives Read More »

A Potpourri of Interesting Things to Read

Lynne Kiesling I am playing a little hooky this weekend and going skiing through Monday. In the interim, here are some thought-provoking reads: This Technology Review article on technological change in small-scale coal gasification that could be done on-site, in the home. Michael Dell is back in the news today, after taking back the CEO …

A Potpourri of Interesting Things to Read Read More »

Bundling’s Benefits

Lynne Kiesling Here’s an example of how bundling can create value: Google Pack for Windows. It’s a bundled download of a bunch of Google software (Earth, Picasa, Toolbar, Desktop), but more interestingly, the bundle includes non-Google software: Acrobat Reader, AdAware, Firefox, and Norton Antivirus. All of these are available for download separately, but Google has …

Bundling’s Benefits Read More »

Milton Friedman, the Chicago School, and Austrian Economics

Lynne Kiesling Today is Milton Friedman Day, and although the Day Job has kept me from much reading and writing today, I would like to point you to this nice article from the Freeman about Milton Friedman and the Chicago School. In the course of the discussion Richard Ebeling contrasts the Chicago School with Austrian …

Milton Friedman, the Chicago School, and Austrian Economics Read More »

Randall Parker and David Victor on Ethanol Policy

Lynne Kiesling Randall Parker at FuturePundit has a post noting Stanford economist David Victor’s analyses of ethanol, as found in this Technology Review interview with him. I generally agree with David’s remarks (we met several years ago in Mexico, and he has lots of expertise in energy and environment, particularly in developing countries), and with …

Randall Parker and David Victor on Ethanol Policy Read More »

Good Things to Read This Morning

Lynne Kiesling Tyler Cowen on income inequality in the NY Times; see also comments from Don Boudreaux at Café Hayek and Mark Thoma at The Economist’s View. This Technology Review article on EEstor’s new battery-ultracapacitor for energy storage. EEstor claims that their battery hybrid has 10 times the capacity of a traditional battery at half …

Good Things to Read This Morning Read More »