It's the holiday season here in the U.S., so for this second post in my new series about useful ideas in economics, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about happiness and taste.In my previous post about the Real Economy, I said that consumption is the reason we have an economy. That sounded good at the time, but it wasn't quite correct. The next paragraph had a clue … [Read more...] about Decoding Economics: Happiness and Taste
Economics
Decoding Economics: The Real Economy
This is the first post of what I hope will be a series about some useful economic ideas.As fascinated as I am by economics, I have been frustrated by the way politicians and pundits discussed economic issues during this last election season. They just weren't talking about economics the way I'm used to. So I'm going to try to fill that gap a little by talking about some of … [Read more...] about Decoding Economics: The Real Economy
A few questions for Lina Khan
On last Monday's Daily Show, Jon Stewart interviewed Lina Khan, who chairs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). She talked about the use of anti-trust laws against monopolies. And after listening to the interview, I have a few more questions for her.Question 1Speaking of the dangers of monopolies and large companies you said,I think it just shows one of the dangers … [Read more...] about A few questions for Lina Khan
Burning Down Twitter
Elon Musk may have been kicking employees out of Twitter to reduce operating costs, but it's possible he couldn't have destroyed more of Twitter's value if he'd burned down headquarters.Let me explain...It’s common to use the word “capital” to mean money, as in capitalizing a corporation, but to an economist, capital refers basically to tools. That is, capital goods are … [Read more...] about Burning Down Twitter
Inflation or Productivity Loss?
I'm seeing a lot of online chatter about inflation lately, and naturally the commentary has the stink of politics on it. Republicans are trying to pin the price increases on Biden and the Democrats. The Democrats, in turn, are trying to minimize the problem by denying that the inflation is as bad as it seems -- currently 6.8% [1], higher than it's been at any other time this … [Read more...] about Inflation or Productivity Loss?