In an earlier post on income and consumption gap, I mentioned that some economists have criticized Krugman's view in his book The Conscience of a Liberal, that "contemporary America's widening income gap is ushering in a new age of invidious inequalities". Here, We have a chance to listen to Paul Krugman talking about this book, and also about the current economy. The talk takes about an hour.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Income gap: widened or not?
The Economist has again focused on the topic of income and consumption gap. Unlike the argument of Paul Krugman, a professor from Princeton University, that contemporary America's widening income gap is ushering in a new age of invidious inequalities, other economists, like Jerry Hausman of MIT and even the Nobel winning economist Robert William Fogel, have aruged that the official statistics do not capture the benefits the poorest have actually gained due to the lowered food prices after Wal-Mart's moving into the grocery business, and that nominal measures of economic well-being often miss such huge changes in the conditions of life.
According to another study, by Dirk Krueger of the University of Pennsylvania and Fabrizio Perri of New York University, consumption inequality has barely budged for several decades, despite a sharp upswing in income inequality.
"...Refrigerators are now all but universal in America, even though refrigerator inequality continues to grow. The Sub-Zero PRO 48, which the manufacturer calls 'a monument to food preservation', costs about $11,000, compared with a paltry $350 for the IKEA Energisk B18 W. The lived difference, however, is rather smaller than that between having fresh meat and milk and having none. Similarly, more than 70% of Americans under the official poverty line own at least one car. And the distance between driving a used Hyundai Elantra and a new Jaguar XJ is well nigh undetectable compared with the difference between motoring and hiking through the muck. The vast spread of prices often distracts from a narrowing range of experience.
After all, "...a widescreen plasma television is lovely, but you do not need one to laugh at 'Shrek'..."
According to another study, by Dirk Krueger of the University of Pennsylvania and Fabrizio Perri of New York University, consumption inequality has barely budged for several decades, despite a sharp upswing in income inequality.
"...Refrigerators are now all but universal in America, even though refrigerator inequality continues to grow. The Sub-Zero PRO 48, which the manufacturer calls 'a monument to food preservation', costs about $11,000, compared with a paltry $350 for the IKEA Energisk B18 W. The lived difference, however, is rather smaller than that between having fresh meat and milk and having none. Similarly, more than 70% of Americans under the official poverty line own at least one car. And the distance between driving a used Hyundai Elantra and a new Jaguar XJ is well nigh undetectable compared with the difference between motoring and hiking through the muck. The vast spread of prices often distracts from a narrowing range of experience.
After all, "...a widescreen plasma television is lovely, but you do not need one to laugh at 'Shrek'..."
Christmas Reading
Mao and the art of management from the current issue of The Economist."...Perhaps for the struggling executive, this is the single most important lesson: if you can't do anything right, do a lot. The more you have going on, the longer it will take for its disastrous consequences to become clear. And think very big: for all his flaws, Mao was inspiring..."
Sunday, December 23, 2007
20 Greatest Equations
...from Physicsworld. (see here and here)
Can somebody in the blogsphere produce a list of 20 (or 10) greatest equations in economics? I think the Fisher Equation on nominal and real interest, Equation of exchange (or quantity of money MV= PQ) and the Black-Scholes Equation would be high on it...
Can somebody in the blogsphere produce a list of 20 (or 10) greatest equations in economics? I think the Fisher Equation on nominal and real interest, Equation of exchange (or quantity of money MV= PQ) and the Black-Scholes Equation would be high on it...
Monday, December 17, 2007
Milton Friedman on Charlie Rose Show
In December 2005, just one year before his death, Dr. Friedman appeared on Charlie Rose, talking as persuasively as always about his opinions on foreign debts, domestic deficit, immigration, drug legalization, school voucher and also sharing with us his views on several US presidents. I watched it several times.
Advice to a Successful Career
...given by management guru William G. Ouchi, in which he claimed he worked 120 HOURS a week!! (watch full video)
Hardest Working man in Economics
Which economist works hardest? Read the interview with Eugene Fama by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and you will find some clue...
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Michael Porter on Charlie Rose Show
Charlie Rose interviewed with the Business Strategy Guru Michael Porter at Harvard Business School three years ago. And it's still worth watching.
Nobel Lectures and Interview
Here is an interview with Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson during the Nobel Week. The following are links to this year's Nobel lectures presented at Stockholm University on 8 December:
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