Robert Hulseman, one of the most productive human beings in history, has passed away. Mr. Hulseman invented the Solo Cup – a product that is a very real and welcome addition to the Prosperity Pool.
Humorist Dave Barry looks back on 2016. A slice:
Trump’s victory stuns the nation. Not since the darkest days of the Civil War have so many Americans unfriended each other on Facebook. Some even take the extreme step of writing “open letters.” Angry, traumatized protesters cry, march, shout, smash windows, set fires — and that’s just the New York Times editorial board. Leading celebrities who vowed to leave the country if Trump won immediately start making plans to … okay, to not actually leave the country per se, but next time they definitely will and YOU’LL BE SORRY.
In Washington, Democrats who believed in a strong president wielding power via executive orders instantly exchange these deeply held convictions with Republicans who until Election Day at roughly 10 p.m. Eastern time believed fervently in filibusters and limited government.
Also looking back on 2016 is George Will.
Jeff Jacoby praises one of my all-time favorite books, The Experts Speak.
Make of this item what you will. (HT Bob Higgs)
Here’s my colleague Chris Coyne on Bob Higgs.
Here’s GMU Econ alum Emily Skarbek on the swordless enforcement of covenants.
Despite containing the commonplace fallacy of equating the trade deficit with national borrowing, this essay by economist David Dollar is worth reading. (HT David Levey) A slice:
First, job loss in manufacturing derives primarily from technological change, not from trade. Manufacturing’s share of U.S. production is quite stable, but its share of employment has declined at a steady rate because productivity growth in manufacturing is higher than in services.
This trend can be observed in all of the advanced economies, including ones such as Germany that have large trade surpluses. Manufacturing’s share of employment in Germany declined by 15.5 percentage points during 1973-2010, very similar to the U.S.’s 14.7 percentage point decline.
