Price of Weed

What explains the differences in prices of marijuana across North America? Demand factors, supply factors? Both? The data is here.

Nothing Else To Do?

Below we have a chart that visualizes the rate of binge drinking by state, which I'm grabbing from this blog. The Midwest to some degree, and the colder, northern regions to a larger degree appear to have the highest rates. What are some theories that can explain this relationship?

Seminar: Tom Scheiding

The next speaker for the Economics Department Seminar Series will be Prof. Tom Scheiding (UW Stout). He will present "Boundary Institutions for Reconciliation of Academic Chemistry to Industry: Germany vs. the United States," on Friday, December 2nd at 3:30 pm in room 230 Wimberly Hall.

Seminar: Yamin Ahmad

Professor Yamin Ahmad (UW Whitewater) will be the next speaker in the Economics Department Seminar Series. Professor Ahmad will present "On the Correlation Between Inflation Persistence and The Implicit Inflation Target," at 3:30 in room 122 Wimberly Hall.

Econ Jobs

The Wall Street Journal has a sort-able and search-able list of college majors and unemployment and salary statistics. Here are the 'Economics' stats:

ECONOMICS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 6.3%
INCOME (25TH PERCENTILE): $42,000
INCOME (50TH PERCENTILE): $69,000
INCOME (75TH PERCENTILE): $108,000

Nudge

Behavioral Econ gets a department in the UK government. A report on the group and the concept of nudge from BBC4.

Connections and Contagion

What is the potential impact of the Euro crisis? Here is an excellent graphic on the degree of financial market integration.