Central banks pumped hundreds of billions of dollars of liquidity into banking systems recently. Unfortunately, most people don’t know what the heck that means or whether it is good or bad. You need a good Econ course to understand the…
Category: Other
Public spending suffers for poor accounting
Government accounting is peculiar, to say the least. It confuses people about spending on new roads, bridges and navy ships. It also distorts citizen perceptions of the state of government finances. The problem is that while various levels of government…
Tight credit not a cause for worry
Loans are not soybeans. Keep that in mind when digesting news of a much ballyhooed “credit crunch.” Market forces of supply and demand drive household and business lending, but not in the simple way introductory econ students learn. Soybeans are…
Safety first…but check the budget
Safety is never an absolute. It is not a binary, yes/no variable. It is, rather, a long continuous scale with a whole range of degrees of relative safety. It is evident from discussions about last week’s Interstate 35W bridge collapse…
Higher mileage standards aren’t enough
How will higher mileage standards for passenger vehicles move more freight by rail instead of truck? How do they cause farmers, miners or contractors to use less diesel fuel? The answer is that they won’t. That is why such standards…
Disaster aid, and where it ends, is never simple
Most people support government aid to victims of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina or the San Francisco earthquake. Most people don’t think such aid is warranted when hail knocks out windows or trees fall on a few roofs. Drawing the…
Loan bailouts would be bad public policy
Mortgage defaults have increased for more than a year and will get worse before they get better. Americans cannot see a problem without feeling we must solve it. That is true with subprime mortgages and other foreclosures. There are recurring…
What is government’s role in public safety?
The question of how to deal with dangerous goods or services is a knotty one. Two recent incidents illustrate this complexity. The first is the well-publicized pet deaths caused by adulterated gluten imported from China by pet-food manufacturers. Tainted Chinese…
Dollar’s slide affects more than tourists
Reporters faced with recurring news sometimes resort to clichés. Oppressive heat wave? Show a kid frying an egg on the pavement. If the value of the dollar falls relative to the euro, describe what admission to the Eiffel Tower or…
Poverty trumps safe travel in poor nations
Work and travel often are markedly more dangerous in poor countries than in rich ones. Visible pollution often is far worse. Are such differences a result of cultural differences that place a lower value on human life or the environment?…