Suchergebnisse

The number of US patents granted has been rising rapidly. However, US productivity has not been rising. Why aren’t more patents leading to more productivity? Aakash Kalyani of the St. Louis Federal Reserve discusses research that suggests an intriguing possibility in “The Innovation Puzzle: Patents and Productivity Growth” (Economic Syn0pses: Federal Reserve Bank of St. … Continue reading Why Aren’t More Patents Leading to More Productivity?
The post Why Aren't More Patents Leading to More Productivity? first appeared on Conversable Economist.

For economists, r* refers to the “natural rate of interest” that emerges from economic theory. It’s the “Goldilocks” interest rate that is not too high and not too low: that is, the interest rate that would occur “naturally” in the economy when the economy is at potential output and inflation is stable. A “tight” or … Continue reading Follow R-Star?
The post Follow R-Star? first appeared on Conversable Economist.

Economic productivity is about growing the size of the pie. I sometimes point out that no matter what your goal–spending increases, tax cuts, greater support for the poor, environmental protection–that goal is easier when the economic pie is growing. When the economic pie isn’t growing, after all, then all priorities have to pit potential winners … Continue reading Productivity Syndrome and the Investment Prescription
The post Productivity Syndrome and the Investment Prescription first appeared on Conversable Economist.

Economic statistics are all useful, and all imperfect. They must be consumed with care. Consider the unemployment rate, a headline indicator of the US labor market. The US unemployment rate has been below 4% since December 2021. As you can see from the graph, which shows the unemployment rate going back to 1948, there was … Continue reading If Not Unemployment, How To Measure the Labor Market?
The post If Not Unemployment, How To Measure the Labor Market? first appeared on Conversable Economist.

For many college students, and high school students as well, a single introductory economics course is the only course in the field they are ever going to take. This is not their fault! People are allowed to be interested in subjects other than economics! Perhaps alternative interests should even be encouraged! But for those of … Continue reading What Should Intro Econ Include?
The post What Should Intro Econ Include? first appeared on Conversable Economist.

About one-third of US households rent, rather than own. The renters are disproportionately lower-income, less-educated, and younger. The public policy concern, of course, is not really about, say, a group of college students or recent graduates sharing a rental, but instead about low-income adults and parents with families for whom rental housing may comprise a … Continue reading Some Facts about US Rental Housing
The post Some Facts about US Rental Housing first appeared on Conversable Economist.

I’ve had a hard time believing that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) matter in an important way, but enough people seem to be paying attention to them that I feel some need to do so as well. Roman Kräussl and Alessandro Tugnetti provide a useful overview of the state of play in “Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): A Review … Continue reading Non-Fungible Tokens: What Are They and How Much Should I Care?
The post Non-Fungible Tokens: What Are They and How Much Should I Care? first appeared on Conversable Economist.

Economists have traditionally focused on policies aimed directly at low-income people, rather than at low-income places. For example, programs like welfare payments, food stamps, Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income are based on individuals. But there has been a push in the last few years for consideration of “place-based policies,” which focus on different rules for … Continue reading A Market Failure Case for Place-Based Policy
The post A Market Failure Case for Place-Based Policy first appeared on Conversable Economist.

Many government agencies with enforcement power face a common problem: they only have the resources to visit or audit a tiny fraction of the possibilities, so they need to pick and choose their targets. How should they make that choice? Consider the Occupational Safety an Health Administration, which is responsible for monitoring and passing rules … Continue reading Improving Regulatory Targeting: The OSHA Example
The post Improving Regulatory Targeting: The OSHA Example first appeared on Conversable Economist.

Imagine that in the market for generic drugs, a group of companies form a cartel to raise prices on the products controlled by their group. Other companies were not involved. What pattern might you expect to see for the prices of drugs controlled by the cartel, or not controlled by the cartel. Amanda Starc and … Continue reading The Generic Drugs Antitrust Case
The post The Generic Drugs Antitrust Case first appeared on Conversable Economist.

Jon Hartley has a wonderful interview with Steven Levitt at the “Capitalism and Freedom in the 21st Century” podcast (“Steven D. Levitt (Freakonomics co-author and University of Chicago Economics Professor) on His Career And Decision To Retire From Academic Economics,” March 7, 2024). Among a number of other topics, there’s a lot of good dishing … Continue reading Interview with Stephen Levitt: My Career and Why I’m Retiring From Academia
The post Interview with Stephen Levitt: My Career and Why I'm Retiring From Academia first appeared on Conversable Economist.

One year ago in March 2023, Silicon Valley Bank melted down, quickly followed by similar meltdowns at Signature Bank and First Republic Bank. Measured by the nominal size of bank assets, these were three of the biggest four US bank failures in history. (The failure of Washington Mutual Bank in 2008 remains the largest.) Was … Continue reading One Year Since the Meltdown at Silicon Valley Bank: Commercial Real Estate and Ongoing Threats
The post One Year Since the Meltdown at Silicon Valley Bank: Commercial Real Estate and Ongoing Threats first appeared on Conversable Economist.

The growth of agricultural output matters. About 700 million people in the world live below a poverty line of consuming $2.15 per day, and if that poverty line is raised to $3.85 per day, more than 2 billion people are below it. Raising the standard of living for the very poor requires higher agricultural output. … Continue reading A Slowdown in Global Agricultural Productivity
The post A Slowdown in Global Agricultural Productivity first appeared on Conversable Economist.

The primary argument for a government-provided basic income is that it will make those with low incomes better off, by increasing their financial resources and by allowing them to negotiate for better jobs. But the extent to which this conclusion holds true will depend on individual circumstances of the recipient, and what other adjustments happen … Continue reading Basic Income Proposals, Labor Market Interactions, and Good Jobs
The post Basic Income Proposals, Labor Market Interactions, and Good Jobs first appeared on Conversable Economist.

There been a controversy in recent decades about the independence of central banks from the rest of the government. The ongoing concern–especially have high inflation rates rocked the US and other countries around the world in the 1970s and 1980s–was that governments have a bias toward inflation. Politicians want the central bank to help finance … Continue reading A Century of Movement Toward Central Bank Independence
The post A Century of Movement Toward Central Bank Independence first appeared on Conversable Economist.