Re: [PEN-L] Cap and Trade versus Carbon Tax

it is to see the scrubber (do you have to climb to the top of each smokestack?), how many scrubbers, whether they work, who knows what else. Most important, the cost minimizing location of scrubbers to hit the emissions target. I'd like to believe it. Gassler Robert wrote: Lee S. Friedman

Re: [PEN-L] Cap and Trade versus Carbon Tax

Lee S. Friedman (no intellectual relation to Milton) wrote a textbook called Microeconomic Policy Analysis some years ago. It is now in a new edition under a slightly different title. In it he claims that a transactions-cost analysis could easily show that regulation is the most efficient

Re: [PEN-L] Indian PM says costly subsidies must be tackled

Obviously such subsidies do not stifle economic growth. Reuters India PM says costly subsidies must be tackled http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-30401520071108?sp=true Thu Nov 8, 2007 By Rajkumar Ray NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India must tackle growing subsidies on food,

Re: [PEN-L] [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Urgent: Petition to Save Institute for Labor Studies at UMKC]

Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:41:36 -0600 From: Education for Democracy Network [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Education for Democracy Network [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Urgent: Petition to Save Institute for Labor Studies at UMKC [CM] PETITION TO RESTORE FULL FUNDING FOR THE INSTITUTE FOR LABOR STUDIES

Re: [PEN-L] British health care system is sicko

Americans need to look at other countries besides the anglophone ones. In Belgium the doctors make $30 house calls. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1019/p04s01-woeu.html British healthcare in crisis despite massive investment A report from the Healthcare Commission says that patients at many

Re: [PEN-L] Steven Levitt and the behaviorists

Gassler Robert wrote: This is riminescent of the nonsense over altruism from a couple of decades back: whatever nice thing you do, it is really selfish underneath. Two references come to mind that counter this nonsense. David Collard's Altruism and economy showed the neoclassicals

Re: [PEN-L] Steven Levitt and the behaviorists

This is riminescent of the nonsense over altruism from a couple of decades back: whatever nice thing you do, it is really selfish underneath. Two references come to mind that counter this nonsense. David Collard's Altruism and economy showed the neoclassicals that altruism is rational after

Re: [PEN-L] heterodox economics, redux

BTW, what's your alternative. (I am NOT telling you to put up or shut up. But I do think that it's best to have alternative rather than simply trashing the hegemonic school of economics. If there's no alternative, good-hearted and even smart lefty economists might be tempted to drink the kool-aid

Re: [PEN-L] heterodox economics, redux

BTW, what's your alternative. (I am NOT telling you to put up or shut up. But I do think that it's best to have alternative rather than simply trashing the hegemonic school of economics. If there's no alternative, good-hearted and even smart lefty economists might be tempted to drink the kool-aid

Re: [PEN-L] heterodox economics, redux

me: BTW, what's your alternative. (I am NOT telling you to put up or shut up. But I do think that it's best to have alternative rather than simply trashing the hegemonic school of economics. If there's no alternative, good-hearted and even smart lefty economists might be tempted to drink the

Re: [PEN-L] Lee Bollinger's Bob Kerry imitation

The 25-year olds in Brussels have the same hairdos. Including some of the women. Louis Proyect Charles Brown wrote: Students used to compare his looks to Robert Redford. I am going to be blogging about this idiot tomorrow but this reference to Redford reminds me of something that I will say

Re: [PEN-L] Query about the end of work

Heilbroner and Thurow in their little textbook of twenty years ago, say that it is an empirical question whether more jobs are created making the machines than are destroyed by using them. Also the skills of the workers making them are different from those using them. It is widely believed --

Re: [PEN-L] Query about the end of work

Thurow points out that in the 50s workers got some of the gains from increased productivity in the form of higher wages, giving them incentive. Now the gains come in lower prices, which do not give incentives to workers. This debate goes back as far as Ricardo. It implicitly hinges on a two

Re: [PEN-L] Grad school like capitalism? [was: Slavery and underdevelopment]

When I was at the University of Washington in the mid-70's it was known as Little Chicago, or Chicago Northwest. (To be fair, half the dept was that way, fighting a war with the other half who didn't seem to notice they were losing.) It was not however like capitalism. My Soviet econ prof

Re: [PEN-L] funny!

Looking to human nature also helped Greenspan solve a perplexing economic mystery. Over the last 150 years, it seems that the maximum productivity growth the economy could achieve over a long period of time was 3 percent annually—despite a series of productivity-enhancing innovations, from the

Re: [PEN-L] Hindu rate of growth [was: funny!]

You all realize of course that per capital GNP growth between 1965 and 1990 is given in the World Develoment Reports of the time. I don't remember India, but the US was at the bottom of the list, tied with Sweden, at 1.8%. The rest of Europe was ahead of it. Singapore was over 6%. but what was

Re: [PEN-L] brain study: liberals think differently than conservatives

Wonder what kind of study they could do in Belgium, where there are two sets of political parties (Francophone and Flemish) whose differences cannot always be put on a left-right spectrum. And whose spectrum goes way beyond liberal and conservative. Greetings Economists, On Sep 11, 2007, at

Re: [PEN-L] Hedge Fund Clones

My impression from Brussels is that most of the world seems to be more like the Ottoman Empire than like the US. I had a student from Jordan who grew up here. In Brussels she spoke Arabic at home, French on the street, English in class, and Dutch occasionally on the main campus. She went to

Re: [PEN-L] Amartya Sen on India

The standard definition in comparative economics is that socialism is state (collective?) ownership of capital goods, capitalism is private ownership of capital goods. This is distinct from the dimension of coordination, which can be through markets, commmand, or tradition. Anthony D'Costa

Re: [PEN-L] Another scandal at the NY Times

You have to add the second line by hand. I don't know, couldn't open that link. Gene On Aug 15, 2007, at 8:23 PM, ravi wrote: On 15 Aug, 2007, at 23:17 PM, Eugene Coyle wrote: Kurt Eichenwald, a NY Times reporter who wrote a thoroughly dishonest book about the ADM price fixing crimes, and

Re: [PEN-L] PD simplified

I like to point out the difference between rationality and selfishness, which is more often than not conflated in most economic discussions. It is possible to be rational and nonselfish. ken hanly wrote: It is not that some definition of rational is contradictory it is that the traditional

Re: [PEN-L] The Jews and the Baha'i in Iran

Wouldn't you? I met someone in New York thirty years ago who said no one had heard of Iran but they were impressed when she said she was Persian. Nowadays I suspect everyone in the US has heard of Iran but not in a good way. Louis Proyect wrote: many other Iranians, particularly those with

Re: [PEN-L] query du jour

Sorry, but there is production in the Walrasian system. His original book had it, but Cassel's truncated interpretation became popular before Walras was translated into English, thus giving rise to the misconception. On 8/3/07, Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I see the difference

Re: [PEN-L] Why economics sucks

This is a comment also on that article about heterodox economics in the news. The law of supply and demand applies when the assumptions are true. Wherever that planet may be. Otherwise you have to modify or relax the assumptions according to the situation you find. Milton Friedman's followers

Re: [PEN-L] Why economics sucks

Thanks Jim. I acknowledged at the top that much of what I charge is recognized but ignored in practical affairs. GDP is a good measure of . . . GDP? Correct. In a wheat market, quantity is a measure of quantity of wheat produced, not satisfaction of hunger. In the national market, GDP is a

Re: [PEN-L] Back to the Future

When I teach about the binomial distribution, the example I use is the probability of global thermonuclear war. If the chance is .01 in any given year, it's two-to-one that it will happen at least once in the next century. Of course, if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Subject: Re: PEN-L

Re: [PEN-L] University of Chicago Question

I heared the same about each school at Harvard. I recently heard that each department has to show that it is financially self-sufficient. It seemed unlikely that even Chicago would go that far. Is my source correct? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico,

Re: [PEN-L] Consumer Behavior and Tipping

Speaking of tipping, the mythology in the US is that it makes servers nicer. Comparing US with Belgium supports it. OTOH, the nicest servers we've met were in Finland, where the tip is included in the bill just like Belgium. I'll get a print leave it around the shop. Subversion 24/7/365...

Re: [PEN-L] [A-List] The Divisions That Tighten the Purse Strings

forthcoming in the assistance it is ready to offer its black neighbors. Joel Blau Gassler Robert wrote: As I said in my 2003 book (cue fanfare), the ethnic diversity in Europe is geographically based, whereas in the US it is not. Welsh live in Wales, Flemish live in Flanders, etc., but African

Re: [PEN-L] [A-List] The Divisions That Tighten the Purse Strings

As I said in my 2003 book (cue fanfare), the ethnic diversity in Europe is geographically based, whereas in the US it is not. Welsh live in Wales, Flemish live in Flanders, etc., but African-Americans and Hispanics live all over the US. That is why welfare state is consistent with tribalism in

Re: [PEN-L] the brilliance of a mind that's never been used

I seem to recall that Lutz and Lux in their The Challenge of Humanistic Economics pointed out that the utilitarians of the 19th century thought that the impossibility of interpersonal comparisons implied that all people should make the same income. By the way, at 6'4 (1m93) I take issue with

Re: [PEN-L] Faith, doubt and certainty

I hve met many arogant rationalists, but the only one that I remember acting the way described here was Ross on Friends, who was put in his place by Phoebe. My High school English teacher once put a quote on the board, surprising for Waco at the time: Faith is what causes us to believe that

Re: [PEN-L] Europe Is Not the Model for America

I do not think it is unfair to ask someone to do this. How many decades has the left had to suggest even the outlines of an alternative? On 2/28/07, Robert Scott Gassler [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So go for it. Describe the model for America. I think that is unfair. Yoshie is at the beginning

Re: [PEN-L] query: PK macro

Moreover, with the production functions that generate flat cost curves, one cannot satisfy Euler's theorem. If labor is paid the value of its marginal product, there is nothing left over for capital. Therefore income distribution becomes political, not economic in the neoclassical sense. This

Re: [PEN-L] NYT magazine on Sanders

Why should it hurt his cause? No one else can point to an ideal either. On 1/23/07, Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: January 21, 2007 The Socialist Senator By MARK LEIBOVICH Sanders calls himself as a democratic Socialist. When I asked him what this meant, as a practical matter, in

Re: [PEN-L] query until we're weary.

Off the top of my head at 7:30 am Brussels time: Social Security wiped out poverty among the elderly. Clinton protected the Twin Towers. He also helped Florida in that hurricane. can anyone name one or more generally-accepted success stories for the U.S. government? It need not be a success from

Re: [PEN-L] feminism

Like that wonderful scene in Erik the Viking as the king leads a chorus while Hi-Brazil sinks. Excepting careerism, familyism, etc. All the basic elements of good ol' American dipshittery are nothing but unacknowledged isms, including the knee-jerk reliance on politicians to decide what changes

Re: [PEN-L] the origin of blonde jokes?

One reason I'm glad I live in Brussels and have no car. I took a modern tram to work today. me: this morning, while commuting to work, I saw a blonde who was simultaneously talking on the phone, eating a burger or something like that, and driving. Her SUV won't be new for long. Leigh

Re: [PEN-L] Anyone familiar with these textbooks?

Thank you very much. The CEPR paper is here. In the footnotes are all the references you will want. http://www.cepr.net/publications/2006_07_unemployment_institutions.pdf Paul P Robert Scott Gassler wrote: Can you give me the CEPR reference? and any OECD etc ones too. At 05:24 24/08/2006,

[PEN-L] introductions to heterodoxy

I am looking for material for my economics courses, which I am trying to make more heterodox. I would be very grateful if people could steer me to introductory articles of say 20 pages on each major heterodox school: behavioral, ecological, evolutionary-institutional, feminist, humanistic,

Re: [PEN-L] Welfare to work: Tough love works

I am having a déja vu attack. Friedman's negative income tax was graduated, as I recall, but otherwise similar. His proposal is progressive in the sense that those over some income, I forget the number get nothing. Only those below some income get the $10,000 those in the middle get less as

Re: [PEN-L] J.K. Galbraith

If all theory is historically specific, why study the past? Just for fun? Because it is not therefore related to the historically specific present. Thans for this Ted. Marx, Keynes and Marshall makes the point much clearer than I. Paul P Ted Winslow wrote: Marx, Marshall and Keynes all adopt

Re: [PEN-L] J.K. Galbraith

I'm in. Daniel: I'm sure that a lot of people on this list would like to send condolences to Jamie Galbraith, but I guess we don't want to bother him senseless with email messages. Would it make sense to do something collectively, or would that create its own set of problems? If Michael

Re: [PEN-L] Tiebout

I always thought the latter was Will Rogers. It was indeed Groucho. Twain, however is notable for having not said more things that he is thought to have said than anyone else. Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it. He didn't say it.It ain't what you don't know

Re: [PEN-L] Vanishing heterodox econ departments?

Except Chicago. I went to college with someone whose father taught another subject there. He said they wanted to send leftist students to the econ dept to loosen it up. His own son went to the econ dept as a student. Now he's a Chicago type. Walt, It's been a long time since I've been

Re: [PEN-L] I remain unconvinced

Good points. I have examples of thesen indicated below. Gassler Robert [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There was an article in the Journal of Economic Perspectives Winter 1994 called How Are the Mighty Fallen interviewing the authors of great (ok, neoclassical great) articles rejected the first

Re: [PEN-L] I remain unconvinced

There was an article in the Journal of Economic Perspectives Winter 1994 called How Are the Mighty Fallen interviewing the authors of great (ok, neoclassical great) articles rejected the first time around. I recall one author who said the article would be rejected as being obvious, saying

Re: [PEN-L] Heather Boushey versus a clown from George Mason U. on inequality

Literally a clown. Remember the 100th birthday party of the AEA? He was the comedian. Couple of his jokes were not bad. he's a bozo, it's true, but I bet that the WSJ ed board thinks he won. I'm surprised he didn't cite the rising role of in-migration of the US as an example of increased social

Re: [PEN-L] uncertainty and incomplete information

I believe Anthony Giddins has something to say about natural uncertainty vs the uncertainty created by society: unemployment, for example. Earlier this year Michael Lebowitz wrote the comment quoted below in relation to a discussion about new advances in decision-making under conditions of

Re: [PEN-L] Mainstream economics appeal to authority

Another popular way of saying it is you can't beat something with nothing. Anyone who looks at the devastated state of sociological theory at the present time knows that you can. They defeated structural-functionalism and now have nothing. (More properly, they have nothing dominant, but the

Re: [PEN-L] Mainstream economics appeal to authority

When my book Beyond Profit and Self-Interest was accepted for publication one condition was that I read Becker's Accounting for Tastes. When I reread Stigler and Becker's De Gustubis... I discovered that it actually refutes NC welfare economics rather than supports it. At one point they say

Re: [PEN-L] speculating on the Bank of Sweden prize in economics, 2005

This has all been discussed by the post-autistic movement. See paecon.net Michael Perelman wrote: Economists are not afraid of math. at all. Many are quite accomplished mathematicians. We get lots of people with math majors going to econ. grad programs. For the most part, in economicss

Re: [PEN-L] Unitarian JIhad Communique

When we lived in Philadelphia, the minister of our church was the son of the founder of the combined Unitarian Universalist Association. He gave a sermon saying that 96 percent or so of our congregation believed in a God of some sort. He said that he himself was one of the four percent who did

Re: [PEN-L] Unitarian JIhad Communique

I am a true Unitarian, and we have softened on the more-than-one-God thing. Mostly we're pretty sure there are not three. And mostly we are not sure how to define a true Unitarian. Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God [sic],

Re: [PEN-L] Unitarian unique

Absolutely. Though sometimes we just mash everything together on our plate so it counts as one thing. On Apr 17, 2005, at 12:02 PM, Gassler Robert wrote: I am a true Unitarian, and we have softened on the more-than-one-God thing. Mostly we're pretty sure there are not three. And mostly we

Re: [PEN-L] Deluded Norway

Norway sounds a lot like Belgium where I live. We're not as utopian as they, but - are you ready for this? - Here the doctors make thirty-dollar house calls. Gene wrote: Carl, Surely this is a parody. Libraries outdated? Public swimming pools needing maintenance? ERs short of supplies? Long

Re: [PEN-L] a curmudgeonly comment

Was that true in Sweden, for example? Of course, in Western Europe, the established churches were neutered by mass anti-clerical movements. It's more than being established. The Spanish Roman Catholic Church, for example, owned a lot of land and allied with the landlords -- until that land was

Re: [PEN-L] good news for the Blue States (DP dominated)

See today's Yahoo news. Yes, Jim, but we have Arnold who is fast turning Cal. into a red state. He seems on the verge of imposing on Ca. changes that are well beyond Bush's. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at

Re: [PEN-L] spam

Sounds more like tax burden than multiplier. I'm playing fast and loose with the term 'multiplier'. In this case, I'm not just thinking of the economic activity that results from spending the revenues generated by advertising but I have in mind both the purposes of the advertising to stimulate

Re: [PEN-L] Divided we stand

I do not recall the Repugnicans standing behind Bill Clinton in 1996 any more than I recall them supporting our troops in Haiti, Somalia, and Bosnia. I recall them gearing up to impeach the commander in chief. Let's give them the same consideration as best we can. Letters to the editor