Monthly Archives: September 2016

An Approach to Policy Change?

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Arnold Kling

Referring to George Soros’ bid to influence elections for local prosecuting attorneys, Scott Bland writes, His money has supported African-American and Hispanic candidates for these powerful local roles, all of whom ran on platforms sharing major goals of Soros’, like … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 3 Comments

The Case for Sticking with the Null Hypothesis

Posted on September 4, 2016 by Arnold Kling

Jesse Singal writes, As things continue to unfold, there will be at least some correlation between which areas of research get hit the hardest by replication issues and which areas of research offer the most optimistic accounts of human nature, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics of Education, statistical methods, Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger | 2 Comments

College Loan Default Not Related to High Tuition?

Posted on September 4, 2016 by Arnold Kling

Jason Delisle says, But if you get in the heads of people — and I did a focus group on this a year ago — you maybe went to school, it turns out it wasn’t for you or the school … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics of Education | 1 Comment

Why You Don’t Have to Change Your Mind

Posted on September 3, 2016 by Arnold Kling

James Surowiecke writes, Obamacare is being hobbled by the political compromises made to get it passed. .. Conservatives point to Obamacare’s marketplace woes as evidence that government should stop mucking around with health insurance. In fact, government hasn’t mucked around … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics of Health Care, Libertarian Thought, Mark Thoma is Indispensable | 32 Comments

Wisdom from Hal Varian

Posted on September 3, 2016 by Arnold Kling

He writes, Self-driving cars are rapidly becoming a reality. In fact, we would have self-driving cars now if it weren’t for the randomness introduced by human drivers and pedestrians. One solution to this problem would be restricted lanes for autonomous … Continue reading →

Posted in Growth Causes and Consequences | 8 Comments

Wisdom from Erik Hurst

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Arnold Kling

He says, The facts are real wages moved very strongly with employment across regions. Nevada was hit very hard by the recession, for example, while Texas was hit much less hard. Wage growth, both nominal and real, was about 5 … Continue reading →

Posted in income distribution-wealth-poverty, PSST and Macro, Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger | 5 Comments

Who Needs Liquidity?

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Arnold Kling

Lynn Stout writes, Wall Street is providing far more liquidity (at a hefty price—remember that half-trillion-dollar payroll) than investors really need. Most of the money invested in stocks, bonds, and other securities comes from individuals who are saving for retirement, … Continue reading →

Posted in financial markets, Mark Thoma is Indispensable | 7 Comments

Trump Explanation to Flatter the Right

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Arnold Kling

William Voegeli writes, When Trump says political correctness cripples our ability to think, talk, and act against terrorism, he’s signaling that our response to terrorism is severely compromised by Islamophobia-phobia—the closed-minded, contrived, overwrought, unwarranted, misdirected, counterproductive fear that accurate threat … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues | 17 Comments

Trump Explanation to Flatter the Left

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Arnold Kling

Arlie Russell Hochschild writes, You are patiently standing in the middle of a long line stretching toward the horizon, where the American Dream awaits. But as you wait, you see people cutting in line ahead of you. Many of these … Continue reading →

Posted in links to my essays, Politics, Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger | 7 Comments