Money and Finance
- The Daily Princetonian Speaks To Paul Volcker
Link to interview: Q&A: Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker '49 DP: Pretty recently, some economists have suggested that the central bankers took [the threat of] inflation too seriously. PV: I’ll give you a simple answer. The responsibility...
- Tim Harford: An Astonishing Record – Of Complete Failure
Link to article: An astonishing record – of complete failure ‘In 2008, the consensus from forecasters was that not a single economy would fall into recession in 2009’ In the 2001 issue of the International Journal of Forecasting, an economist...
- Prospect Magazine Interviews Tim Harford
Link to interview: Big data, bad prophets and Brian Cox: An interview with Tim HarfordYou write about economics for a wide audience, is that because you believe there’s some benefit in wider economic literacy? I do, but I also just find it fascinating....
- Barry Schwartz Interview
Found via Simoleon Sense. The European: The classical economic point of view is that peoples’ decisions results from a careful weighing of what will create the most desirable result. What do you advocate? Schwartz: Well, I think this picture is completely...
- F.a. Hayek's 1974 Nobel Speech: The Pretence Of Knowledge
The particular occasion of this lecture, combined with the chief practical problem which economists have to face today, have made the choice of its topic almost inevitable. On the one hand the still recent establishment of the Nobel Memorial Prize in...
Money and Finance
Smart Taxes: An Open Invitation to Join the Pigou Club – By N. Gregory Mankiw
As an economics educator, I have always been fascinated by topics about which there is a large gap between the beliefs of economists and those of the general public. For example, economists are generally supportive of free trade among nations, while the public is more skeptical. Economists oppose rent control, while much of the public supports the policy.
In these and other cases where economists and mere muggles don’t see eye-to-eye, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that I am quick to side with my fellow economists. I like to think that this reaction is more than mere professional solidarity but is, instead, a symptom of my commitment to rational thought. Unlike most people, who spend their time thinking about their children, local sports team, or favorite sitcom, economists have devoted much of their lives to thinking about such things as international trade and rent control. That fact may make us boring at cocktail parties, but it does have some offsetting benefits. It is not a stretch to believe that more thought about an issue leads to more reliable conclusions. As a result, I feel comfortable with conclusion that, regarding these issues, economists are right and the general public is just ill informed.
My topic for today is a policy about which there is a particularly large gap between economists and the public: Pigovian taxation. In particular, I want to talk about taxes on energy-related products, such as gasoline taxes. Not long ago, the economist Steve Levitt, coauthor of the best-seller Freakonomics, wrote on his blog, “For a long time I have felt the price of gasoline in the United States was way too low. Pretty much all economists believe this.” Levitt then went on to argue for higher taxes on gasoline. At about the same time, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had precisely the opposite perspective. She announced “a series of hearings to address rising gas prices—focusing on the causes, the burdens they put on American families and businesses, and solutions.”
In these and other cases where economists and mere muggles don’t see eye-to-eye, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that I am quick to side with my fellow economists. I like to think that this reaction is more than mere professional solidarity but is, instead, a symptom of my commitment to rational thought. Unlike most people, who spend their time thinking about their children, local sports team, or favorite sitcom, economists have devoted much of their lives to thinking about such things as international trade and rent control. That fact may make us boring at cocktail parties, but it does have some offsetting benefits. It is not a stretch to believe that more thought about an issue leads to more reliable conclusions. As a result, I feel comfortable with conclusion that, regarding these issues, economists are right and the general public is just ill informed.
My topic for today is a policy about which there is a particularly large gap between economists and the public: Pigovian taxation. In particular, I want to talk about taxes on energy-related products, such as gasoline taxes. Not long ago, the economist Steve Levitt, coauthor of the best-seller Freakonomics, wrote on his blog, “For a long time I have felt the price of gasoline in the United States was way too low. Pretty much all economists believe this.” Levitt then went on to argue for higher taxes on gasoline. At about the same time, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had precisely the opposite perspective. She announced “a series of hearings to address rising gas prices—focusing on the causes, the burdens they put on American families and businesses, and solutions.”
-
....................
-
Related site: Greg Mankiw's Blog
-
- The Daily Princetonian Speaks To Paul Volcker
Link to interview: Q&A: Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker '49 DP: Pretty recently, some economists have suggested that the central bankers took [the threat of] inflation too seriously. PV: I’ll give you a simple answer. The responsibility...
- Tim Harford: An Astonishing Record – Of Complete Failure
Link to article: An astonishing record – of complete failure ‘In 2008, the consensus from forecasters was that not a single economy would fall into recession in 2009’ In the 2001 issue of the International Journal of Forecasting, an economist...
- Prospect Magazine Interviews Tim Harford
Link to interview: Big data, bad prophets and Brian Cox: An interview with Tim HarfordYou write about economics for a wide audience, is that because you believe there’s some benefit in wider economic literacy? I do, but I also just find it fascinating....
- Barry Schwartz Interview
Found via Simoleon Sense. The European: The classical economic point of view is that peoples’ decisions results from a careful weighing of what will create the most desirable result. What do you advocate? Schwartz: Well, I think this picture is completely...
- F.a. Hayek's 1974 Nobel Speech: The Pretence Of Knowledge
The particular occasion of this lecture, combined with the chief practical problem which economists have to face today, have made the choice of its topic almost inevitable. On the one hand the still recent establishment of the Nobel Memorial Prize in...