Labor Market Arbitrage
The Economist explains how discrimination in the labor market can be reduced by competition in product markets. As in the U.S., Korean women obtain at least the same education as…
The bad news: Roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: All the important stuff can fit on one index card. Here’s how to become your own…
In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.
The Economist explains how discrimination in the labor market can be reduced by competition in product markets. As in the U.S., Korean women obtain at least the same education as…
Cecilia Rouse, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, is as cold-blooded as any economist. But she admits that her profession would do well to focus on…
In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.
It may seem like winning a valuable diamond is an unalloyed victory. It’s not. It’s not even clear that a diamond is so valuable.
Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate, likes to say that most Americans are libertarians but don’t know it yet. So why can’t Libertarians (and other third parties) gain more…
In a world where nearly everything is for sale, is it always okay to buy what isn’t yours?
Harvard economist Claudia Goldin and Steve talk about how inflexible jobs and family responsibilities make it harder for women to earn wages equal to their male counterparts. But could Covid…
…the application of modern information technology and relentless accountability. I also cite incentive-based contracts for transportation infrastructure as examples of smart government spending that uses free-market principles to deliver better…
In a word: networks. Once it embraced information as its main currency, New York was able to climb out of a deep fiscal (and psychic) pit. Will that magic trick…
…of private-label mortgage-backed securities issued by others. When these are taken into account, Fannie and Freddie’s share of the sub-prime market financing did increase even in those years. “Asset prices…
…of Real Estate Agents in Greater Boston.” But for those of us who have thought about the Realtor’s role in the housing market, it’s tempting to jump to that conclusion….
The bad news: roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: all the important stuff can fit on one index card. Here’s how to become your own…
We all know the standard story: our economy would be more dynamic if only the government would get out of the way. The economist Mariana Mazzucato says we’ve got that…
The world’s great museums are full of art and artifacts that were plundered during an era when plunder was the norm. Now there’s a push to return these works to…
So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace….
Also: How do you recover from a bad day?…
Most travelers want the cheapest flight they can find. Airlines, meanwhile, need to manage volatile fuel costs, a pricey workforce, and complex logistics. So how do they make money —…
Photo by Steven Stewart of his son. The essence of a free market is exchange — you and I raise our utility voluntarily by exchanging things with which we are…
…the complaint. Remember this story the next time someone brings up the need for a legitimate, regulated market for human organs, as we’ve discussed here many times in the past….
…Now many consumers feel “locked in” that market, and would rather skimp on their own dinners than try to switch Mimi or Fido back to cheap kibble. That spells both…
…the notion that a market for organs, as we’ve written about before, would punish or exploit poor people out of proportion to rich people. Anti-market arguments usually include the concern…
Claudia Goldin is the newest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Steve spoke to her in 2021 about how inflexible jobs and family responsibilities make it harder for women…
A lot! “The Economics of the Undead” is a book about dating strategy, job creation, and whether there should be a legal market for blood.
…the question regarding the optimality of the medicine market. Let’s look at some general facts about this market: We spend about 19 percent of G.D.P. on health; there are many…
…complements.) It’s harder to cook up neat examples of goods markets that are impinged upon by labor-market changes. An acquaintance told me how his business, a retail fabric store, failed…
…stations in their markets, will they apply the same “grab the biggest numbers” strategy? “It’s hard to say,” Waldfogel said. “With radio, a typical market has twenty or more stations,…
Not so long ago, G.E. was the most valuable company in the world, a conglomerate that included everything from light bulbs and jet engines to financial services and The Apprentice….
Dubner and Levitt talk about circadian rhythms, gay marriage, autism, and whether “pay what you want” is everything it’s cracked up to be.
