Dicamba combined with Monsanto’s Xtend seed line is a relatively low-cost way of controlling weeds in soybean and cotton fields. But if your farm is next door and you don’t plant Monsanto seeds, you better be upwind from the neighbor. Otherwise, dicamba will blow onto your field, severely damaging your crops. Continue Reading →
Second, redouble your efforts to educate the public on the merits of free trade. Current public opinion and political winds seem to indicate a serious lack of information on this subject. Continue Reading →
For future reference, this is also a page under the Learning tab. I’ve recently finished two lengthy projects for Pearson Higher Educational Publishing. Textbook links are to Amazon.com. The textbooks Continue Reading →
Apparently many trucks in Venezuela are now sporting signs like this one. Rough translation: no food on board. The reason, of course, is massive food shortages caused by the government’s equally massive price controls. Food truck hijackings have become common. Ain’t socialism great? Continue Reading →
The implied value of a human life is between $1,270,181.30 and $1,750,790.44. This compares favorably with the accepted standard of $5 million per human life. Continue Reading →
“Why do policy wonks who will happily watch hundreds of hours of talking heads droning on about the global economy refuse to sit still for the ten minutes or so it takes to explain [David] Ricardo?” So asked one famous economist in the mid-1990s, making fun of intellectuals who couldn’t grasp the great English economist’s concept of comparative advantage “with its implication that trade between two nations normally raises the real incomes of both.” Continue Reading →
Honestly, this material is not difficult and the data is readily available. I always have trouble understanding why people don’t simply look at the facts instead of trusting the media. Nearly everyone in the media, including most of those who report on economics, are illiterate about even the most basic economic concepts. Remember, their college degrees are in journalism or communications. Somewhere along the way an editor decided they knew some economics. They don’t. Continue Reading →
I’ve been looking into detailed election results, specifically our local school district. There are 31 precincts. To save some time I thought I’d get the GIS maps. Imagine my surprise when I found out they would cost $86 per precinct! I wondered if this came close to the monopoly profit-maximizing price. Have I found monopoly pricing in a government agency? Continue Reading →
Assuming the current exchange rate remains the same, she will never pay off this mortgage. Her payment in Swiss francs is less than the monthly interest. Therefore, she is experiencing negative amortization in forints. Continue Reading →
National income accounting is not particularly easy or interesting. But those who try to use GDP should know what they’re talking about. Mr. Davidow has sadly failed this test. Continue Reading →
