Montgomery College economist (and GMU Econ PhD) David Youngberg responds on Facebook to Nobel laureate economist Eric Maskin’s answer of “Uncertain” to a survey question that asked about the likely effects of a 107 percent hike in the minimum wage:
Maskin wrote: “The total increase is so big that I’m not sure previous studies tell us very much.” Oh man, if only we had some sort of theory to inform us on what would happen if something like this occurred.
My colleague Bryan Caplan reflects, over at EconLog, on multiculturalism and markets. A slice:
No matter how much teachers urge the children of immigrants to treasure their cultural heritage, they’ll still master English. Why? Because the jobs they want – and the popular culture they enjoy – require fluent English. More tellingly, there’s no sign that multicultural propaganda has motivated second-generation immigrants to attain fluency in their parents’ native tongue. Why? Because the jobs they want – and the popular culture they enjoy – don’t require fluency in their parents’ native tongue.
My point: Civics lessons, good or bad, are a frail government program. If we had to rely on them for assimilation, we’d be in deep trouble. Fortunately, pervasive market forces quietly and efficiently handle the job.
Here’s the conclusion to Shikha Dalmia’s latest:
The tragedy of current efforts to combat global warming is that in order to avert a tragedy they’ll cause one.
Richard Epstein asks if Obamacare is sustainable. Here’s his conclusion:
Back in 2010 no one thought that healthcare markets were perfect. But we took the wrong fork in the road. Instead of opting for systematic deregulation in healthcare and insurance markets, we opted for cradle-to-grave regulation. We need to have the courage to recognize and correct that mistake now.
Stephen Hawking is a far better physicist than is GMU Econ PhD student Stewart Dompe. Stewart Dompe is a far better economist than is physicist Stephen Hawking. (One difference between the two men is that Stewart doesn’t offer opinions about matters on which he is insufficiently knowledgeable.)
The great Matt Ridley will speak at Cato’s Washington headquarters on November 11th.
