Good news – monkeys would have taken option ARM and pay-as-you go mortgages too: http://www.ted.com/talks/laurie_santos.html For more about Human Irrationality, check out Dan Ariely’s blog and his book – Predictably Irrational.
July 27, 2010
Many thanks to Greg Mankiw for posting the link on his blog to Robert Solow’s prepared statement to the House Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight – “Building a Science of Economics for the Real World.” I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was introduced to the field of… [Read more…]
July 19, 2010
How humans’ ability to conceptualize and capitalize on gains from trade leads to economic and societal progress: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/matt_ridley_when_ideas_have_sex.html Ridley references one of my favorite economics lessons from Uncle Milty – The Story of the Pencil – though he fails to cite Milton Friedman on the idea… Found that rather disappointing. (Thanks to Paul Kedrosky’s blog… [Read more…]
February 3, 2010
I was fortunate enough to attend the ASF 2010 Working Lunch, pretty good rubber chicken with a side of CNBC’s Larry Kudlow moderating between Howard Dean and Newt Gingrich. Much to my surprise, Howard Dean appeared to show signs of fiscal conservatism and the willingness to speak with candor and criticisum about the Obama administration.… [Read more…]
January 28, 2010
I got into a Facebook conversation yesterday about capitalism and greed, and immediately thought about this excerpt of the Phil Donahue show, interviewing Milton Friedman back in the 1970s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A And as is the beauty of YouTube, I also found this episode of the Charlie Rose show, taped just a day after Milton Friedman passed… [Read more…]
November 27, 2009
(Note: My thoughts on this aren’t completely formed, but I felt it important to record as a start to the formalization process…)Trolling through TED.com, I came across Jay Walker’s presentation about his Library of Human Imagination. One of the artifacts he displayed during his talk was a Gutenberg Bible (about 90 seconds into the video)… [Read more…]
October 4, 2009
Was fortunate to flip on the TV the morning to catch Alan Greenspan on “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos. Here are some key statements during the interview with some additional explanation in parenthesis that I’ve added. The economy loses skills with elongated unemployment (When workers are not working and keeping up with new technology, new… [Read more…]
August 7, 2009
I came across this presentation Paul Romer, Stanford economist (and a former employer). He discusses the idea of creating “Charter Cities” in developing countries that would enable the local population to choose migration and participation in the Charter City while providing a motive of profit for international firms to set up shop. Using Hong Kong… [Read more…]
June 15, 2009
Given Google’s new found paranoia, it gives me a certain amount of comfort to know that the laws of the free market and capitalism are still alive and well, even during a time where government programs and institutions are pushing a more socialist environment on the social side of our country’s development. Back in September,… [Read more…]
March 31, 2009
From John Hussman, of Hussman Funds, this article provides one of the most lucid descriptions of why the poorly constructed (I hate using the word “toxic”…) mortgage assets on bank balance sheets pose such as problem, and a clear set of solutions that would probably work if implemented. Hussman explains why allowing the banks to… [Read more…]
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July 29, 2010
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