How much money would you require to be paid to voluntarily put yourself through lead poisoning that makes you sick without killing you? Some people would do it for a few million dollars. This helps explain why people lie and…
Blog Archives
The minimum wage is nearly dead
The federal government has just set the record for the longest period of time without an increase in the minimum wage to keep up with inflation. The minimum wage has now been ignored for over a decade and Kevin Drum…
International comparison of the income tax rate on the wealthy
Thomas Piketty posted the top income tax rate in five of the richest big countries over the past 115 years. Most Americans don’t realize that the top tax rate in the US is considerably lower now than it was for…
Posted in Public Finance
Affirmative action for the rich
There are several ways that rich kids buy advantages for college. First is years of expensive high-quality education that begins in exclusive private preschools that cost more than full tuition at most private colleges. Then add in expensive summer camps…
Posted in Labor, Public Finance
Guns don’t kill people. Alcohol kills people.
Ok, so my title is goofy sloganeering, but it isn’t any goofier than the common slogan it is based upon. Although the US could certainly save lives by copying some of the gun restrictions that all other industrialized nations use,…
Posted in Public Finance, Violence & Peace
Concentrated roadway power
Money is power and as Mancur Olson first explained in The Logic of Collective Action, not all money is created equal. Mancur was an economist with an uber-macho-sounding first name. It is pronounced ‘Man-Sir’ which sounds like the kind of…
Posted in Public Finance
A public conspiracy to protect pharmaceutical profits at taxpayer expense
Every so often I get requests to sign a petition supporting various business interests. The petitions are promoted by fly-by-night “organizations” that are fronts for lobbyists like EconomistLetter.com. Lately I’ve been getting emails from ConcernedEconomists.org that are worried about the pharmaceutical industry’s…
Posted in Health, Public Finance
