Wednesday, March 21, 2012
La Ceiba Microfinance Institution video
La Ceiba is a micro lending agency developed by Professor Shawn Humphrey and students at the University of Mary Washington. It emerged out of work they were doing with Students Helping Honduras. Here is a video describing what they do.
bikes for girls
Great video from the International Growth Centre about giving bikes to girls so they can go to school, explaining the research they used to determine the effectiveness of the program.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
free stuff
gretl free econometric analsysis software (also very easy to use)
PANDA-glGo free computer Go (fun but addictive)
PANDA-glGo free computer Go (fun but addictive)
Monday, March 19, 2012
Colleges Are Controlling Costs
Recently President Obama received a lot of attention for effectively warning colleges to keep costs under control.Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion about college costs. Many people confuse cost, posted tuition, and net tuition. . The cost is the full amount spent educating a student, regardless of who pays it. The posted tuition is what is listed on the college web page, but many students do not pay this amount. The net tution is what a student actually pays.
This graph is from the Delta Project it shows, for the Mid Atlantic region, the average full cost per full time equivalent student, what part is paid by the student, what part is paid by someone else, and how these have been changing. Clearly colleges have been containing costs; the total amount spent has increased very little. What has changed is the part that is paid for by the student.
This graph is from the Delta Project it shows, for the Mid Atlantic region, the average full cost per full time equivalent student, what part is paid by the student, what part is paid by someone else, and how these have been changing. Clearly colleges have been containing costs; the total amount spent has increased very little. What has changed is the part that is paid for by the student.
Econ Talk
At Econ Talk Russ Roberts talks to Daren Acemoglu, the Kieth Richards of economics, about why nations fail.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Bad Economics: Krauthammer on Oil Prices
Charles Krauthammer criticizes President Obama for suggesting that "Drill, Baby, Drill" wil nott lowee oil prices. He writes: "So: Decreasing U.S. demand will lower oil prices, but increeasing U.S. supply willl not? This is ridiculous. Either both do or neither does. Does Obama read his own speeches?"
Who is right. On this point it is the president. Yes, price is determined by both supply and demand, but not everyone is a large enough part of supply or demand to influence the price. If I decide to stop working it won't change the salaries of professors. If I double the amount of eggs I consume it won't increase the price of eggs. Why? Because in each case I account for a small part of the total supply and demand. The U.S. accounts for a fairly small part of supply. In terms of proven reserves it was less than 2% of the world total 2009. On the other hand, we accounted for over 20% of world consumption. Thus, changes in U.S. consumption are more capable of influencing the price than changes in U.S. production.
All of this does not imply that we should not increase oil production. Domestic oil production will generate income and create jobs. It won't, however, lower the price of gas
Who is right. On this point it is the president. Yes, price is determined by both supply and demand, but not everyone is a large enough part of supply or demand to influence the price. If I decide to stop working it won't change the salaries of professors. If I double the amount of eggs I consume it won't increase the price of eggs. Why? Because in each case I account for a small part of the total supply and demand. The U.S. accounts for a fairly small part of supply. In terms of proven reserves it was less than 2% of the world total 2009. On the other hand, we accounted for over 20% of world consumption. Thus, changes in U.S. consumption are more capable of influencing the price than changes in U.S. production.
All of this does not imply that we should not increase oil production. Domestic oil production will generate income and create jobs. It won't, however, lower the price of gas
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Paper for Business History Conference
This is the abstract of the paper we are presenting at BHC at the end of the month.
Bradley A. Hansen and Mary Eschelbach Hansen
Business and the Evolution of Debt Collection Laws: Garnishment and Wage Assignment in Illinois, 1880-1930
In the 1870s and 1880s legislation and court rulings combined to make the wages of a head of household almost completely exempt from garnishment in Illinois. Yet by the 1930s, Illinois was regarded as one the states where it was easiest for a creditor to claim a large share of a debtor's wages. We argue that the driving force behind the evolution of garnishment and wage assignment in Illinois was the conflict between two groups of business people: large employers and businesses that supplied credit to wage earners. Large employers regarded garnishment and wage assignment as costly nuisances and sought to restrict their use. Businesses that provided credit to wage earners regarded garnishment and wage assignment as important tools and sought to minimize restrictions on their use. Each group pursued change through legislation, through the judiciary, and through private contracting. Because the conflict between large employers and businesses that provided credit was meditated through the political and legal systems, the outcomes were also shaped by the influence of other interest groups and by the ideologies of judges. By the 1930s, this combination of forces left Illinois with a relatively moderate garnishment law but virtually unrestricted use of wage assignment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)