Gas Prices

I'm sure we're all extremely grateful for the gas prices being so low, but what does this say about the economy?

interesting link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97350133

I suggest listening to the audio link, it's very insightful to the current economic situation in light of the dropping oil prices.

The Ten Principles of Economics.

The Rap Version. Please go listen. And, of course, learn.

And don't forget to read. Quiz 1/5.

Writing Project

I've postponed this week's writing project until after the chapter 5/6 test. So, go study.

The Tragic Case of Cory Maye

If you'd like to know more about Cory Maye's story, check out Radley Balko's reason magazone article on the case here. Then watch the reason.tv video about the case here.

For a much more thorough examination of the entire case - and for a clear look at the power of a single blogger - check out Radley's awesome blog here (the posts on that section go from most recent at the top to earliest toward the bottom).

And of course, bring in whatever you can to help Cory's kids have a nice Xmas.

I, Pencil

Leonard Read's remarkable story can be found here. Please read it before Friday; the test will include "I, Pencil."

Essay Contest

Here's a contest you might be interested in. Again, it's courtesy of FEE.

Against Energy Independence.

Here's a great article on the folly of "energy independence." It comes courtesy of one of the best places to learn economics, the Foundation for Economic Education's periodical, "The Freeman."

Remember the lesson of this article the next time you hear a politician promise energy independence. What they're really promising you is higher prices at the pump, and a lower standard of living. Thanks, but no thanks.

Feels like

nobody has posted in a while...

I find it interesting that Sarah Palin doesn't actually know the job of the Vice President, stating: "[T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes"

WRONG! [and what excellent syntax...]

Just when she FINALLY answers a question, she gets it wrong... ughhhh

But I think Biden answered similarly on the question

Additional thoughts?

Liveblogging the Presidential Debate

Some of you asked about it, so I wanted to remind everyone that I'll be liveblogging the debate tonight with two very funny friends of mine over at www.thestalwart.com. Click here to go there now.

"How Markets Use Knowledge"

Everyone: go here and click on the first link. It's a PDF file by class favorite and George Mason University economist Russ Roberts, and it will help you understand and process what we're discussing in class. There's also an HTML page if for some reason you can't get PDF files.

Enjoy!

(P.S. Have the Hayek piece finished by tomorrow's class).

A very cool article on the bailout.

A must read, actually.

Newburn, or should I say IDEAPROVINCE!!?

I enjoyed the constant satire through the debate tonight. I say Obama won the debate. Counter opinions??

Causes of the mortgage meltdown.

Courtesy of the Independent Institute.

Spontaneous Order: Mackerel as money in prisons

Fascinating read in the Wall Street Journal.

The Best Explanation of the Current Economic Crisis.

Courtesy of Will Wilkinson and economist Arnold Kling on Bloggingheads TV.

Cato!

Gettin' some press; gettin' gettin' some press ...

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE PRACTICE!!!

Everyone - EVERYONE! - in class must - MUST - for a grade - go to this website and play this game - both the basic and the advanced games - until they are intimately familiar with the principle of comparative advantage. Go there ... now.

One of the world's greatest intellectual treasures.

Julian Simon will make you see the world differently. I had to read his books to learn his stuff.

You can learn it from a video.

I still highly recommend Simon's books.

On the government bailout of the mortgage industry...

We should probably be talking about this in class, but we have to learn to crawl before we can run. Anyway, if you want to get a feel for what's going on re: the government and the mortgage industry, check out these links:

Tyler Cowen

Tyler Cowen again

Cato on the bailout

Walter Williams

George Will

Mercatus Center on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Sebastian Mallaby

Voting and Opportunity Costs.

I like the discussion on voting going on, and I'll add a few cents. Chris wants a test for voter eligibility; Gabby feels like she isn't knowledgeable enough to cast a ballot.

Both are interesting thoughts, which raise an economics point. If there's a test to vote, then potential voters would presumably study to pass it. That means they're not doing other things, such as spending time with friends and family, or exercising, or learning a trade, or working and producing wealth. Given the vanishingly low marginal benefit of any given vote, is it efficient to demand that 200 million people give up their time in order to pass the test? Demand curves slope downward, of course, and if we raise the cost of voting we can expect less of it. Fine by me, but I wonder if that was Chris' intention. Besides, who designs the test? Who gets to determine what the "basics" are. If I had my way, only those who demonstrate an understanding of basic economics would be allowed to vote. Should logrolling and public choice critiques be on the test, or is it sufficient that one knows who, say, George Washington is?

Re: Gabby's point. Of course, learning about the candidates and their positions takes an awful lot of time. If rational people make decisions at the margins, and make decisions based on the marginal costs and benefits of an act, what does economics say about taking time to study up on political candidates?

Meanwhile, Economics...

A few weeks ago, I went to Publix right as they were closing. A bakery employee was stuffing desserts into a large plastic bag. My mom asked, "Those are going to a shelter, right?" and the employee replied that they were going to the dumpster. I asked why they didn't just mark down the cakes, pies, and cookies in order to make as much money as possible. She said "Publix doesn't mark down." How stupid! I immediately thought of the examples of the last seat on a plane and in a movie theater; I tried as best as I could to explain why it would be smarter to sell it cheaper at the end of the night, but the baker stood befuddled.

Now, tonight, as I was eating my Hitchcocks "brownie bites," I noticed that the container was marked "Reduced Price for Quick Sale." The brownies, which are usually three dollars, were marked half price (that's a dollar fifty, kids!) and were quickly snapped up by my mother. Someone at this local supermarket is more rational than the Publix giant! Mr. Hitchcock must be a marginally thinkin' man.

Who Should (and shouldn't) get to vote?

The example of the eleven-year-old and the thirty-five-year-old was a great point to back up Chris's argument, but how often does it happen that a pre-teen knows a great amount about politics beyond what their parents tell them? This child quite possibly could have been coached to say what she said (or not?), and it is more likely than not that she had outside or advanced education on the subject that other students would not have had access to. I definitely think that it's possible for a child to be independent enough to learn about politics and form their own opinions, but it just doesn't happen enough to allow all of them to vote.

However, I do realize that some American adults can be even less knowledgeable about government. Many people in the United States couldn't even pass the INS test. I'm not sure how effective passing a test in order to vote would be. And who would decide what "basic knowledge of government" would be? A good amount of the voting population has very little knowledge (or none at all) about the political process, and creating a test to eliminate ignorant voters would skew the results (and tremendously reduce the amount of voters) of an election. Politically ignorant people are just another demographic of this country--you can't deny them a fundamental American right.

If this were a perfect world, then everyone who wanted to vote would be educated enough to make an intelligent decision, and all minors would understand politics. Politicians would actually explain the issues they plan to deal with, instead talking in circles (for fear of losing a voting population). Voters would then know the reasons why they vote (or not vote) for certain candidates, instead of simply voting on superficial ideals. But this is not a perfect world, nor a perfect system, so unless circumstances can change greatly, lowering the voting age (or abolishing it) could quite possibly make things worse. Since I am not eighteen until December, I will be unable to vote in this election. I have decided that I am glad that I cannot vote, because I feel that I am not yet knowledgeable enough about politics to make the right decision for myself. I know that I need to be further educated on government (hence next semester's class) and do more research on politics specifically. This is not to say that the voting age as of now is perfect, but I feel that many teenagers are like me and do not fully understand politics. Some don't even care about it. Even though I am sure that there are some teens that are enthusiastic about government, many still have to reach a certain level of maturity before they can make the decision to vote.

Voting Age

Back in the primary season, I was watching the news when a girl of about the age of 11 or so came on and started to talk about her experience interviewing Mitt Romney the night before. She was then asked about her feelings regarding foreign policy, and her articulation was absolutely impeccable. Not only were her sentences pretty, but they had a deep insight to the issues at hand. I was stunned and inspired.

Later that day, my neighbor of 35 years of age decided to come over to talk to my mom about the Iraqi Conflict. (I refuse to call it a war since Congress didn't) She said things like:

"I'll be glad when we kill that Saddam Hussein after what he did on 9/11."

Keep in mind that this is a year after Saddam Hussein was executed.

Essentially, she knew absolutely nothing of the world or the issues surrounding it, which is absolutely fine. I don't believe all of us should be political experts or trained debaters. My point is simply this:

Should the voting age be so shallow as to deny the extremely well informed 11 year old reporter and accept the completely ignorant 35 year old woman?

My personal opinion is absolutely not. I think there should be a test on basic governmental knowledge that one would have to pass in order to vote. But that's just me...

Let's see what you have to say.

Response to comments...

I would like to clear any confusion caused by my article (some unintended consequences). I noticed Mr. Newburn posted the following comment:

"I'm having trouble seeing the "moral" distinction between marijuana and alcohol. Could you elaborate, Travis?"

My beliefs on this is there is no "moral" distinction between marijuana and alcohol. Both of these drugs when consumed in large amounts will cause you to do things that you would of never done (thats why I would never drink) since it messes up your decision making abilities. The only reason I put in the quote about how people would get drunk to cope with the depression was because thats what they did to get through the depression. Was it right? No, by all means, but thats what they did back then.

Also back on the comment on my article "Not a Perfect World." In responce to the question...

"If greed is the driving force for so much good, why do you think it's immoral?"

...well, it is because of my beliefs as a Christian that greed is a sin and immoral.

The economic study guides

So, Ja'Layne and I have attempted to do the Study Guide and Page 57&58 assignment. Neither of us really understand it, and Josh is no longer here to explain it to us, so it's really hard to complete it. We were wondering if we could go over it in class tomorrow. The one day of teaching it thing doesn't make it understood.