Category Archives: PSST and Macro

Whose course will scale?

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Arnold Kling

Tyler Cowen writes, My fall semester teaching was assigned to be online even before Covid-19 came along. The enrollment for that class – Principles of Economics – will be much larger, with hundreds more students, but with some assistance, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics of Education, technology and the future, Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger, virus crisis | 11 Comments

General update, May 11

Posted on May 11, 2020 by Arnold Kling

1. How Portland is using the worst legislation in history to loot. So Oregon’s largest district has hatched a plan to have its employees work four days a week for the remainder of this school year, and it is banking … Continue reading →

Posted in PSST and Macro, Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger, virus crisis | 10 Comments

Economic reality and illusion

Posted on May 11, 2020 by Arnold Kling

On the one hand, you have reality. Over 20 million jobs were lost in April, or more than 13 percent of employment. The other day I linked to a study suggesting that over 40 percent of these job losses are … Continue reading →

Posted in PSST and Macro, virus crisis | 32 Comments

General update, May 10

Posted on May 10, 2020 by Arnold Kling

1. In Connecticut, Between April 22 and April 29, the state’s death total rose from 1,544 to 2,089, or 545 new deaths, according to data released by the state Department of Public Health. In that same seven-day period nursing home … Continue reading →

Posted in Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger, virus crisis | Tagged , | 11 Comments

General update, May 9

Posted on May 9, 2020 by Arnold Kling

1. Erin Bromage writes, We know most people get infected in their own home. A household member contracts the virus in the community and brings it into the house where sustained contact between household members leads to infection. But where … Continue reading →

Posted in PSST and Macro, statistical methods, virus crisis | 10 Comments

General update, May 8

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Arnold Kling

1. Greg Mankiw writes, Job losses during the Great Recession of 2008-2009 were largely permanent job losses. Job losses during the Great Shutdown of 2020 are largely temporary layoffs. The future course of the economy will, of course, depend on … Continue reading →

Posted in virus crisis | 14 Comments

The new minimum wage

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Arnold Kling

Two headlines from this morning’s WSJ. 1. April Jobs Report to Show Record Unemployment. 2. Businesses Struggle to Lure Workers from Unemployment. Remember Fight for Fifteen? It passed without a fight. The Federal supplemental unemployment benefit is $600 a week. … Continue reading →

Posted in virus crisis | 10 Comments

General update, May 7

Posted on May 7, 2020 by Arnold Kling

1. Tina Lu and Ben Y. Reis write, We found that Internet search patterns reveal a robust temporal pattern of disease progression for COVID-19: Initial symptoms of fever, dry cough, sore throat and chills are followed by shortness of breath … Continue reading →

Posted in Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger, virus crisis | 5 Comments

Miscellaneous bitter thoughts

Posted on May 7, 2020 by Arnold Kling

1. Many people believe that it is quite moral not to pay rent. Hardly anyone believes that it is moral not to pay taxes. I think that the intuition is that taxes are fair, but rent is not fair. If … Continue reading →

Posted in virus crisis | 18 Comments

General update, May 6

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Arnold Kling

1. Six years ago, I threw a dance party for myself. I got to select the program of dances. My children were all there. Life was better then. 2. Russ Roberts sent me three pointers. The first one is a … Continue reading →

Posted in PSST and Macro, virus crisis | 9 Comments