What happens when the government tries to help dairy farmers?

This article from CNNMoney describes the effects of letting the farm bill expire. The current bill sets a support price for dairy products at a level about 1/2 of the current price. If the bill expires, the support reverts to a 1949 standard that would set the support price at about twice the current price. Click here to read about the 1949 standard.

The articles would be good introductions to binding and non-binding price floors.

School Choice

Here is an account of New Orleans's use of school choice. The initial results look good.

PPACA = Patient Protection and Affordability Act, aka ACA and Obamacare

The Kahn Academy has a good summary.

Click here for the summary provided by the White House.

Click here for a thoughtful piece in the WSJ that discusses the fundamental nature of the bill.

This article in CNBC describes some of the reactions by business to Obamacare. The rational actor paradigm predicts all of them: incentives matter.

Visit the posts labelled Health Care for more.

The air up there

This story form Marketplace is a great example of externalities and how clearly defined property rights leads to mutually beneficial trades. (The audio is way more fun than the transcript.) Coase would be proud. It also mentions how restrictions on trade affect bargaining positions and market outcomes.

For an example of how markets for air rights may have failed, click here. 

The two stories might be fodder for a class discussion about why the market for air rights might be "good" when the two parties are developers or landowners, and "bad" when one party is Central Park. 

Controlled field experiments

My inspiration du jour is controlled field experiments. To learn more, read The Why Axis or visit this TED talk by Esther Duflo.

Business responds to PPACA

This article in CNBC describes some of the reactions by business to Obamacare. The rational actor paradigm predicts all of them: incentives matter.

Make a stand

Here is an article that addresses cause-based marketing and philanthropy, a research interest of mine.

ObamaCare = PPACA

Here is a video that portrays PPACA unfavorably. It is hyperbolic and contains grains of truth. To read the 906-page bill, click here.

Here is another critical and comical portrayal of PPACA.

Having trouble finding a job?

You might learn something from this article. I wonder what the best response is by colleges and universities.

Game theory, parenting, and birth-order effects

This article for PBS Newshour is an interesting account of the linkages between birth order, parenting, and subsequent outcomes for children. The gist is that parents are "harder" on first children in order to establish a reputation and send signals to younger children and that first children are (therefore?) more likely to avoid bad behaviors (substance abuse) and accumulate wealth. 

Is it a good day for low wage workers?

This article in CNN starts by announcing that increases in the minimum wage passed by two localities is a good day for low wage workers.It might make a great natural experiment to determine the effect of increasing the minimum wage. All we need is a control locality that is otherwise similar and has not increased its minimum wage.

How do you know when a politician is lying?

Here is a CNN story on a difference between what Obama promised when promoting passage of the ACA and what he said recently. I particularly like the bite where Obama says, "We will keep this promise."  Here is the video released by the Obama folks which they said is a 4-minute summary of the plan. Note the first point.

I am not confident that what he said recently is accurate. My understanding is that individuals will lose plans that do not meet the standards specified in the ACA even if the plans have not changed since the passage of the bill. Here is a story about cancellations.

FYI: When his or her lips are moving.

Teaching econ to MBA students

Here is a nice post discussing economics, MBA students, and Schools of Business.