Seminar: Ed Lopez

Our next department seminar will be Tuesday, February 23^rd at 4:00 in room 229 Wimberly.  Ed Lopez (San Jose State) will present “The Holdout Problem as a Guide to Policy.”  Upper division economics majors.  A copy of the paper is here.

Positive vs. Normative.

A false dichotomy.

Subsidy for Health Insurance

via MarginalRevolution:

James Kwak gives us his back-of-the-envelope estimate:

The median family household had income of $62,621 in 2008, which means it has a marginal tax rate of 15%. (We’re pretty close to the 25% threshold, so I’ll use 20% in what follows.) So without the exclusion, the typical family plan would cost about $16,000 in pretax dollars, not $13,000; the exclusion gives the median family a discount of 20%. Only about 60% of people get health insurance through an employer plan, so the average discount across the population is only 12%. Given that the price elasticity of health care is almost certainly a lot less than one (if you double the price, demand won’t fall in half), the overconsumption due to the tax exclusion must be less than 12%. Yet our per-capital health care expenditures are more than 60% above those of any other advanced country.

In other words it matters, but not as much as many people claim.

Boom and Bust: Rap

From econstories.tv:

Chinese Inflation

I have long wondered why if China's exchange rate policy (ie. their peg) is so far away from the "true" market exchange rate, then how has that monetary expansion not lead to a rapid pick up in Chinese inflation? James Hamilton offers an explanation. Its there, just hidden in relative prices:

So why hasn't domestic inflation in China undone the stimulus from the exchange rate? I've been forming the opinion that U.S. inflationary dynamics may be more governed by relative price changes than was historically the case, and raise the possibility that China could be ground zero for this phenomenon. Specifically, I'm wondering if the pent-up inflationary pressure takes the form of inducing consumers and businesses in China to try to acquire any hard assets they can, with the result that rather than overall inflation we see remarkable increases in the relative prices of such items. I've commented before on this interesting account from last September:

Strategic Thinking Class: J-Term

Strategic Thinking Using Game Theory

Great leaders understand and use strategic thinking. Most learn it on the job. Some study it and then apply it. The basis of most strategic thinking among successful leaders is an application of game theory.

This Winter Session (J-Term) you have the opportunity to learn how to see the whole at a glance. Several games will be used as the springboard for you to begin the art of thinking strategically.

The course will be taught by Charles Swayne, recognized for his application of game theory. He is a frequent speaker at the World Series of Poker Academy Camps, teaches poker online with Daniel Negreanu, is the creator of the N-SPAT (The Negreanu-Swayne Poker Aptitude Test), is an honorary member of the Global Strategic Poker Thinking Society, and his new book, Swayne’s Advanced Degree in Hold’em, is the most comprehensive book on the market for the serious poker player. He is currently working on a new book, Heads Up Poker, with champion Paul Wasicka. Swayne has combined his education and lessons of mathematics, statistics, total quality management, industrial engineering, operations research, entrepreneurship, finance, economics, investments, marketing, leadership, strategy and ethics, to help you to become a more global thinker.

Where and When: University of Wisconsin – La Crosse
Winter Session (J-Term)
Time and Days: 9am-2:10pm (bring your lunch), Monday-Thursday
11-14 Jan and 19-22 Jan 2010
Credits: 3
Course Details: REC 375; Workshop in Recreation Management
University Information: If you are not a UW-L student, contact UW-L Admissions at 608.785.8939
More Course Information: Contact Charles Swayne at swayne.char@uwlax.edu or 608.397.2783

An interesting talk on India

This is quite an interesting talk on India. What makes it more interesting is that Shashi Tharoor is a dynamic speaker

Here is the link:

http://www.ted.com/talks/shashi_tharoor.html