Knowledge Problem (Free subscription) | yesterday
Lynne Kiesling I’ve added an AddThis “share this blog” button to the right sidebar, which allows you to link to KP from just about every imaginable form of social media. We hope you will!
Knowledge Problem (Free subscription) | 10 hours ago
Lynne Kiesling Interesting … via Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing, links to the two parts of Steve Landsburg’s 10-question exam to determine the honors eligibility of Oberlin economics majors for honors. Oberlin always solicits questions from an outside expert, and Landsburg has posted them on his blog, The Big Questions. I also recommend his blog for [...]
Division of Labour (Free subscription) | 2 hours ago
Ask Lynne Kiesling's and Andrew Kleit's new book, Electricity Restructuring: The Texas Story. From the AEI online store description: In the early 1990s, the U.S. electricity industry was plagued by cost overruns and stagnant productivity. Many states turned to deregulation to promote innovation and cut costs, a strategy that had worked for the telecommunications, trucking, natural gas,...
Knowledge Problem (Free subscription) | 15 hours ago
Lynne Kiesling A couple of weeks ago I linked to a post from Ed Glaeser on his research on urban dynamism. Glaeser has posted a follow-up to his initial comments. He asks: For decades, economists have debated the “ Dutch Disease” and other ailments associated with too much success. The discovery of natural gas in the North Sea [...]
Knowledge Problem (Free subscription) | yesterday
Lynne Kiesling Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary is a true literary gem. Also known as the “cynic’s word book”, it complies witty and biting definitions that Bierce contributed to magazines starting in the 1880s, with all of the bluntness and prejudices that you would expect (in other words, if Bierce were writing today he’d certainly offend many...
Knowledge Problem (Free subscription) | yesterday
Lynne Kiesling I’ve mentioned NPR’s Planet Money before, specifically their story on the history of employer-provided health insurance. They do a good job (not perfect, but good) of exploring economics topics for a general audience; they did some very good reporting on the underlying macroeconomic issues in the financial crisis earlier this year (although they didn’t...
Anti-Dismal (Free subscription) | 12/08/2009
In the US, Illinois instituted a smoking ban in bars and restaurants in January 2008. What happened? This comes from Lynne Kiesling at the Knowledge Problem blog. The Crowbar, on the southeast side of Chicago near the Indiana border, provides an experiment on precisely this point. The bar’s owner takes donations to pay for the fines that he is charged for allowing smoking: Owner...
Knowledge Problem (Free subscription) | 12/07/2009
Lynne Kiesling Here’s an illustration of several important economic points. Illinois instituted a smoking ban in bars and restaurants in January 2008. One of the arguments for such smoking bans is to spare patrons and employees the negative effects of second-hand smoke. Clearly such a blanket ban has some negative unintended consequences that reduce economic efficiency [...]
Knowledge Problem (Free subscription) | 12/06/2009
Lynne Kiesling The Marriott hotel on Michigan Avenue has been harvesting honey from beehives they have set up on their own roof. They use the honey in an on-site microbrew beer and in some of the dishes they make in their restaurant. What do you think are some of the economic motives driving such a decision? [...]
Knowledge Problem (Free subscription) | 12/05/2009
Lynne Kiesling I drink tea. Lots of tea. Mostly strong, black tea with milk and some Splenda. I prefer Assam and its big, malty body. I’m not such a tea weenie that I drink only loose leaf tea, but I am enough of a tea weenie that when I travel home from London, I always bring [...]
