Econ70
While Uruguay’s bid to legalize marijuana sales makes it the first state to go to pot to raise revenues, the effort should be applauded. President Mijica’s proposal would charge the state with oversight over planting, grading and distribution of Marijuana.…
The ongoing euro-zone debt crisis has been a borrowing bonanza to both Switzerland (not part of the EU) and Denmark (part of the EU but not the euro-zone). On Tuesday, Denmark issued 2-year bonds with a yield of -0.223% while…
The Friday File: Prior athletic accomplishments are not predictive of future performance with one exception — bowling. Scoring a goal doesn’t increase your chances of scoring another, and there’s no evidence of a “hot hand” in basketball. However, because lane…
If you follow these rules: complete a high school degree, work full time, and wait until 21 to get married and have a baby, then you have only a 2% chance of being in poverty and a 72% chance of…
Legislation requiring ATM operators (who may not be banks) to post placards listing fees for using ATM machines is being vigorously opposed by banking industry lobbyists, who prefer that fees be opaque. However, this is good legislation. It has low…
The US is 22% of world GDP, the Euro zone 18%, Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRICs) about 20% and the rest of the world the other 40%. As for growth in calendar year ‘12, the BRICs should hit…
The Friday File: While stress is a critical variable in determining life span, and people in leadership positions are often subject to profound stress, they have much lower mortality rates than persons at the bottom of the hierarchy. Turns out,…
It’s official, white non-Hispanic births are less than 50% of all births. Of the 4 million babies born during the year ending 7/11, 50.4% were to minorities, up from 48.6% a year earlier. Among adults over 50, African-Americans are the…
Elinor Ostrom, the only female economist to win the Nobel Prize, died earlier this week. Her area of focus was on how best to share common resources, like fisheries, water, air, forests, and grazing lands. Her conclusion; communities with common…
Yield’s on Spanish sovereign debt are skyrocketing, despite the latest $125 billion bailout. If Spanish banks fail, the cash-strapped government must bail them out. Unfortunately, failing banks have been the biggest buyers of Spanish debt. Given collapsing bond prices, an…