An economic argument about why there are more “man-childs” around.

Hayek on economics and knowledge:
Correct foresight is then not, as it has sometimes been understood, a precondition which must exist in order that equilibrium may be arrived at. It is rather the defining characteristic of a state of equilibrium ( Read more... )

A post on monetary economics is here explaining it for a lay audience and why it matters so much. My favourite monetary economist, Scott Sumner of Bentleigh University who writes the Money Illusion blog, thought it a "great post".

A book on the recurring booms-and-busts of capitalism reviewed here, here and here.

(The author thought the review "very fair".)

The history of a spurious statistical indicator that began as satire and refuses to die.

I, Toaster: trying to make a toaster from scratch: a lesson in division of labour, specialisation and commerce. The toaster project.

Evidence that culture matters.

Hans Rosling doing 200 years of progress in great graphics. About economic optimism being a ( Read more... )

About a search for new economic ideas. An interview with Deidre McCloskey about economics for grownups:
No science can predict its own future, which is what predicting business cycles entails. Economists are among the molecules their theory of cycles is supposed to predict ( Read more... )

Sometimes, you ask a question and you just hit comedy gold.

The funniest piece on monetary economics you are ever going to read (no, really).

Responding to the viral cartoon on Quantitative Easing. (The original animation falls into the “very funny but not entirely accurate” category.)

The follow-up to the Hayek-versus-Keynes “Fear the Boom and ( Read more... )

When Donald Horne wrote The Lucky Country, the title was an ironic indictment of mediocrity. And one can point to fortunate things about the land of Oz. The rich resource base. Being settled by the British rather than by, say, the Spanish ( Read more... )

Suggesting ways in which the “brain drain” could be a benefit to Africa.

Looking at the path of economic policy during 1930 and in 1931 when the real disaster began to unfold.

Using the 1967-75 closing of the Suez Canal as a natural experiment of the effect of distance on trade.

Interview with the man who runs/owns about a third of the ( Read more... )

Massively damaging earthquake in Haiti with epicentre near the capital Port au Prince with great loss of life. Video of the Haiti earthquake. Technical details of the earthquake. Graphic of technical data. Pictures. Satellite photo of centre of Port au Prince (click for higher resolution). About the experience of being in a serious earthquake. This ( Read more... )

Estimating the demographic cost of socialist policies in India:
These policies yielded economic growth of 3.5 percent per year, which was half that of export-oriented Asian countries, and yielded slow progress in social indicators, too. Growth per capita in India was even slower, at 1.49 percent per year. It accelerated after reforms started ( Read more... )