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Spending on America's Pets

posted to CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST on Tue 21st May 13

Steve Henderson of the U.S. Census Bureau pulls together data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and looks at "Spending on pets." He writes (footnotes omitted): "Nearly three-quarters of U.S. households own pets. There are about 218 million pets in the United
Global Urbanization and the Governance Challenge

posted to CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST on Mon 20th May 13

The overall focus of the Global Monitoring Report, jointly published by the World Bank and the IMF, is on how the world is doing in achieving the "Millennium Development Goals" or MDGs. But the annual reports also look at some particular angle or topic more
A Defense of the Financial Sector

posted to CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST on Fri 17th May 13

The financial sector needs some defenders, and John H. Cochrane steps forward with a bracing essay, "Finance: Function Matters, Not Size," in a symposium in the Spring 2013 issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives. (Full disclosure: I've worked as

Falling Labor Force Participation

posted to CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST on Thu 26th Apr 12

The percentage of the U.S. adult population that is either working or unemployed and looking for a job is called the labor force participation rate. From the early 1960s to the late 1990s, this percentage rose more-or-less steadily, from 59% to 67%. But since
The Role of Safe Assets in a Financial System

posted to CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST on Wed 18th Jan 12

Gary Gorton, Stefan Lewellen, and Andrew Metrick presented "The Safe-Asset Share," one of those rare academic papers with a basic empirical finding that shakes up your mental landscape, at the annual meetings of the Allied Social Science Associations
What if Life Expectancy Grows Faster?

posted to CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST on Thu 12th Apr 12

Rising life expectancy is a good thing; indeed, Kevin Murphy and Robert Topel estimated in a 2006 paper in the Journal of Political Economy ("The Value of Health and Longevity," 114:5, pp. 871-904) that the 30 years of additional life expectancy gained by an

Americans on Pet Spending, and Other Links

posted to John Goodman's Health Policy Blog on Wed 22nd May 13

Americans spent approximately $61.4 billion in 2011 on about 218 million pets, not counting several million fish. HT: Timothy Taylor.Miami hospital tells what buyers actually pay. HT: Sarah Kliff.Unions not happy with health care reform law.
Links for 05-22-2013

posted to Economist's View on Wed 22nd May 13

In Europe, a Fed President Urges Quantitative Easing - NYTBoJ holds off on fresh monetary easing - FT.comThe Hidden, Unexpected Public Costs of a Stadium - Sports EconomistLessons at the Zero Bound from Japan and the US - William DudleySNAP Rolls: Theyre Elevated
Assorted links

posted to Marginal Revolution on Tue 21st May 13

1. Is Bernanke right about the great stagnation?2. Stanislaw Lem’s major non-fiction work is now in English, Amazon link is here. I have ordered it of course.3. Find your sheep more easily.4. More on the guy who bridged the prime gap, and more here, and