The New York Times said “The current opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis in American history.” Last August, Donald Trump declared, “The opioid crisis is an emergency, and I’m saying officially right now it is an emergency… It’s a national emergency.…
Yearly Archives: 2017
What is imputed rent?
Suppose you own a house worth $240,000, but your job forces you to move to Chicago for two years where you will have to pay $12,000 ($1,000/month) to rent another house with nearly identical characteristics. Fortunately, you can rent out…
Posted in Public Finance
Vox’s misleading gun death graph
In the wake of the mass shooting tragedy in Los Vegas, Vox posted an analysis showing that more guns lead to more gun deaths: I was immediately suspicious because I’m living in Guatemala and I am constantly being reminded that…
Posted in Health, Violence & Peace
US median income finally rises above record set in 1999. Yea!
Kevin Drum reports that the official census bureau measure of: household income is now at an all-time high: And now for the buzzkill portion of this post: this means household income has increased a whopping 0.6 percent since 1999. That’s $22…
Posted in MELI & Econ Stats
Jaywalking in Guatemala
As a visitor to Guatemala, I’ve often heard cautions from Guatemalans to be extra careful crossing the road because cars have the right of way and might run me over. Although cars give very little regard to pedestrian safety, there…
Posted in Development, Public Finance
Trickle-up economics
Supply-side economics is often derided as trickle-down economics. It is the idea that we should reduce taxes on the wealthy who will then use their increased disposable income to grow the economy so fast that it will benefit everyone. That…
Posted in Medianism, Public Finance
Median vs. mean life expectancy
Life expectancy is the mean number of years someone is expected to live if conditions would remain the same in the future as they are in the current year. But because life expectancy is slightly skewed to the left, David…
Medianism 