Many writers have noted that colonisation contribute to the sad state of many African economies today. Now Nathan Nunn claims that the slave trade may also have had a long-term impact on economies. The author …find[s] a robust negative relationship between the number of slaves exported from a country and current economic performance. To better […]
This is a post that Matt really should have written, but unfortunately he’s snowed under at work at the moment. Having said that, it’s not really much more than a plug for Steven Landsburg’s fascinating new paper entitled “The Methodology of Normative Economics”. Economists tend to shy away from making normative judgments: when constructing a […]
Matt’s talked in the past about fuel taxes to reduce emissions and reduce the time cost of congestion. This paper suggests that there may be further benefits to a fuel tax. Using US data the author estimates that …a $1 increase in gasoline prices would reduce obesity by 15% in the U.S., saving 16,000 lives […]
Government departments are constantly criticised for their lavish spending on outside consultants. Why, the newspapers ask, couldn’t they rely on the inside talent that taxpayers are already forking out for. This paper, mentioned by Eliezer Yudkowsky may give some clue. It turns out that people are not only incredibly bad at predicting how long it […]
Robin Hanson suggests on CATO Unbound that much of the health care spending governments do is a waste of money. Citing the RAND study on healthcare he says: The experiment’s random assignments allowed it to clearly determine causality. Being assigned a low price for medicine caused patients to consume about 30% (or $300) more in […]
I have often wondered why there is such a strong reaction to news of politicians’ mistakes. Just recently, Damien O’Connor made the error of allowing a suspended employee to play in the Parliamentary rugby team. The only concern here is the possible appearance of improper influence, as the employee is personally known to Mr O’Connor. […]