Economics

Bailouts, Stimulus, and Debt: John Cochrane and Russ Roberts on Econtalk

1 Comment / Economics / By

Lynne Kiesling I recommend this EconTalk podcast between Russ Roberts and John Cochrane very highly: John Cochrane, of the University of Chicago, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the financial crisis. He talks about the origins of the crisis, why the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) was flawed from the beginning, why mark-to-market accounting …

Bailouts, Stimulus, and Debt: John Cochrane and Russ Roberts on Econtalk Read More »

My Three Favorite Things About the Super Bowl

Economics, Electricity, Professional sports, Technology / By

Lynne Kiesling 1. [this one is obvious] The right team won, YAY Steelers! Although there was more drama in getting to the end than was strictly necessary … 2. The Polamalu update of the old Joe Greene Coca-Cola ad. Warms the cockles of my old-school Pittsburgher heart! 3. GE’s Scarecrow/”If I only had a brain” …

My Three Favorite Things About the Super Bowl Read More »

Any Good Analyses Comparing Renewable and Nuclear Costs?

9 Comments / Economics, Electricity / By

Lynne Kiesling Today several items have floated across my radar screen contending that renewables are cheaper than nuclear power. Here, for example, is a snippet of a talk from Eric Schmidt of Google on the topic. I can see the possibility, given the innovations in renewables, incorporating the savings in foregone wires construction (although that …

Any Good Analyses Comparing Renewable and Nuclear Costs? Read More »

Fuel Hedging: Sometimes You Get the Bear, Sometimes the Bear Gets You

1 Comment / Economics, Energy markets / By

Lynne Kiesling One of my father’s default tag lines was “sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.” I use this phrase frequently when discussing hedging future price changes — if prices move in the direction you anticipated, you earn a profit, if they move in the opposite direction, you earn a loss. …

Fuel Hedging: Sometimes You Get the Bear, Sometimes the Bear Gets You Read More »

“Fixing” the Economy: How Do You “Fix” an Ecosystem?

3 Comments / Economics, Liberty, Regulation / By

Lynne Kiesling In the post-election show of sleeve-rolling-up meeting between Barack Obama and John McCain, their main rhetoric revolved around how they could work together to “fix up the economy”.  At the time I wrote about how that language rankled me (and Russ Roberts), because the economy is not a closed-system project, and politicians who …

“Fixing” the Economy: How Do You “Fix” an Ecosystem? Read More »

Airport Kabuki: Bruce Schneier on “Security Theater”

4 Comments / Economics, Regulation, Travel / By

Lynne Kiesling Bruce Schneier is one of the most thoughtful, knowledgeable security experts in the world, and he’s been constructively critical of the TSA’s airport policies and procedures for quite some time (so have I, but I have nothing like his expertise or his street cred). You may have seen Jeffrey Goldberg’s November 2008 Atlantic …

Airport Kabuki: Bruce Schneier on “Security Theater” Read More »

Uscap’s Blueprint for Climate Policy

2 Comments / Economics, Environmental policy / By

Lynne Kiesling The U.S. Climate Action Partnership group issued its blueprint for climate policy earlier this week, to lots of comments. This excellent Environmental Capital post summarizes the discussion that’s taken place this week. I wonder if that fact that it has upset almost all commentators means that it’s a pretty reasonable compromise; I will …

Uscap’s Blueprint for Climate Policy Read More »

Eric Morris: Why You’ll Love Paying for Roads That You Don’t Pay for Now

Economics, How cool is this? / By

Lynne Kiesling Eric Morris, guest-blogging at Freakonomics, has two guest posts (one) and (two) on road congestion pricing. Congestion pricing is a much-discussed topic here at KP, and the two Morris posts are excellent discussions of the benefits of congestion pricing. In his first post he explains how variable tolling can generate the optimal level …

Eric Morris: Why You’ll Love Paying for Roads That You Don’t Pay for Now Read More »

Copyright © 2022 Knowledge Problem Archive