Reading Ronald Coase

ronaldcoase Are you a well-read economist?

You aren’t if you cannot appreciate the Coase Theorem. (That theorem is one of the most cited in all of academic literature. Note, not just econ literature but all academic literature.) In other words, understanding the Coase theorem is part of being a complete economist.

Here are a few references to Ronald Coase, winner of the Economics “Nobel” Prize 1991, and his work:

Ronald Coase (Dec 1910 – Sep 2013) wiki page.

“The Nature of the Firm” (1937) wiki page.

“The Problem of Social Cost” wiki page.

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Ask me anything

It’s time to have a conversation. I intend to have google hangouts on a regular basis. I am taking suggestions on the day and time. But first, would you like to join? Would the weekends be a good time for you? And if so, what time? Of course, you can ask me anything by leaving a comment on this post. I hope to hear from you on this open thread.

An ad from 1947: “The Uphill Task Ahead”

My friend Veer shared this advertisement from 1947.

uphilltaskahead

After 68 years, Indians are still fighting a war on poverty and it is still an “Uphill Task Ahead.” Very little has changed since 1947 in the economic environment, and what little change there has been regressive. Certainly relative to 1947, Indians have progressed but relative to others, India has slipped further behind.
Continue reading “An ad from 1947: “The Uphill Task Ahead””

Pohela Boishakh, Vishu, and Puthandu Greetings

It’s a new year for the people of Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Happy New Year wishes.

ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः
सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः ।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु
मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत् ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Nir-Aamayaah |
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu
Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Om, may all become happy,
All be free from illness.
All see what is auspicious,
May no one suffer.
Om peace, peace, peace.

Rich People Spend More

It is very satisfying when research corroborates naive intuition. We expect water to flow downhill and when research after much painstaking data analysis concludes that indeed water flows downhill, it is a valuable addition to human knowledge and understanding. Switching off sarcasm mode now. I entered that mode when I read “Rich People Are Great at Spending Money to Make Their Kids Rich, Too” in The Atlantic. (Hat tip: Rajan.) An accompanying graphic shows “Share of Spending on Certain Categories, by Income Group” —

richpeople

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Watching the Lunar Eclipse

Right now, as seen from San Jose, CA, the moon is close to totally eclipsed. The footage from Los Angeles’s Griffith Observatory below.

http://rt.com/on-air/blood-moon-total-eclipse/embed/

Lunar_Eclipse_4-4-15

MWSnap541 This is the third in a series of four total lunar eclipses that began in mid-April last year.

MWSnap540

Goodbye, Mr Lee Kuan Yew

LKY2

Friday the 13th, Pi Day the 14th & Beware the Ides of March

But first, if you are superstitious then be wary since it is Friday the 13th. If you know anything about numbers, and you live in the US, then you can be irrational on Saturday which is Pi Day.
piday

This pi day stuff works only in the US convention of writing mm/dd/yy for dates.

But whatever you do, beware the Ides of March.

Money is the root of all Evil

Thoreau_wants Many people — including some economists — often confuse money with wealth. This frequently leads to avoidable errors and bad policies. It is best to take money out of most discussions and focus on wealth, unless of course one is specifically discussing money. Continue reading “Money is the root of all Evil”