So soon, you ask? Even though the last big tech bust was only just over one short decade ago, there’s plenty of reason to believe that this sector is about to pop all over again. Continue reading
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The New New York Taxi
The city of New York was once the epitome of American life, a symbol of the great freedom of this country and a representation of all great things American. Now, the city has chosen Japan-based auto manufacturer Nissan to supply all of the city’s taxi vehicle needs. Continue reading
Mind the Gap
Despite the title, I will actually not be talking about London’s Tube this afternoon. Instead, I’d like to make you aware of a nifty little tool for comparing all sorts of economic data from across the world: gapminder.org.
Gapminder lets you compare a wide variety of information gathered from, for the most part, a very long period of time. For example, the default view compares income per capita to life expectancy in 2009, then graphs it out like this (bigger bubbles mean higher population):
How Americans Can Win from China
The situation that we have been facing lately with China is an especially interesting scenario. It seems that most mass media aims to use scare tactics that devote too much attention to China’s rapid growth rate and why we should be concerned about it. I know I’m even a little guilty of calling our readers’ attentions to this fact. Now I’d like to elaborate on the flip side: why China’s growth could spur one of the biggest economic expansions ever, both in America and around the world.
Water Bobble
This is my new Bobble, and I love it.
2011 Index of Economic Freedom: Bad News
The recently-released 2011 Index of Economic Freedom provides a disappointing image of the condition towards which the United States has fallen. Continue reading
Chinese Government Subsidies are Killing the American Green Movement
One of the biggest criticisms of the Go Green fever that has been sweeping through the nation over the last several years is the political nature of it all. It appears that this characteristic may ultimately bring the movement in its current iteration to an end, spawning an entirely rethought effort or otherwise halting the progress of related initiatives.
Photoshop by Andy from AET. Original panda image from thundafunda.com.
Coming Feature: Economist of the Week
Read practically anything about current economic or sociopolitical events and you will almost certainly see the name of some economist. Such mentions are quite common in our day-to-day absorption of the world around us. Given the widespread role of economists in today’s society, this makes sense. However, how many of those names actually stick with you? Just about everyone knows, at least by name, who John Maynard Keynes or Milton Friedman is. But have you heard about Dale Mortensen, the economist at Northwestern University who won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics for his analysis of markets with search frictions? Are you aware of what that means?* Considering his recent award, it might be possible. How about Ardo Hansson? He’s the lead economist for China with the World Bank, and he recently discussed how higher interest rates in that nation won’t necessarily lead to an inflow of capital. Given the current interconnection between the Chinese and American economies, this is highly relevant information. Unfortunately, the economists that speak on this and other topics oftentimes get overshadowed in the media–their words may make headlines, but their names seem to be forgotten.
Friedman and Keynes have been featured on the covers of Time Magazine. Economists both old and new, alive and passed, will all be recognized in our new weekly feature.
Perceptions v. Reality
I find this both scary and disappointing.
This unfortunate reality has seemingly already altered the perceptions of the American people.
The Beautiful Online Used Textbook Market
Maybe I’ll write a more in-depth post on this someday, maybe I won’t. I primarily just wanted to express my elation that one of my textbooks came in the mail today and I saved a whole lot of money. Continue reading
