Economics

I don't know if you'll learn anything new from this, but for its format it's a pretty accurate summary of the economic debate: (Hat tip: Radley Balko. … [Read more...] about Economics Rap Duel

Over at Popehat, blogger Ezra has a suggestion for future awards of the Nobel Peace Prize: I submit that the prize be awarded each year in perpituity to the nation of Bhutan. In 1972 their king uttered the simple phrase "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product." Since then, Bhutan has systematically and doggedly worked towards increasing the … [Read more...] about Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

Over at Simple Justice, Scott Greenfield has taken time off from bashing marketers to bash coupon settlements. That's when some lawyers initiate a lawsuit against a corporation on behalf of a large number of people, and then settled for a payment that allows the corporation to send out some sort of redeemable coupon instead of cash. In this case, it's the Ford Explorer rollover … [Read more...] about Coupon Madness

Reason's Brian Doherty raises the alarm about Justine Varney, the new head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. According to a Wired article, she might be planning to go after Google. The technology industry, she said, was coming under the sway of a dominant behemoth, one that had the potential to stifle innovation and squash its competitors. The last time the … [Read more...] about Success Attracts the Wolves at Google

Columnist Steve Chapman has a piece today complaining that the coming increase in the minimum wage will cause unemployment: Come Friday, the federally mandated minimum wage will jump to $7.25 an hour from $6.55 -- an 11 percent increase. At a time when employers are laying off workers, Washington is going to make it more expensive to keep them. If you're a minimum wage … [Read more...] about The Minimum Wage and Unemployment