What are the Most Insightful Economics Articles?
Which economics articles teach us the most about how to think about the world? Over the next few weeks, I plan to write about the articles that I think belong in this group. I am hoping that some...
View ArticleThe Nature of the Firm
Welcome to the first installment of our series of discussions of the Most Insightful Articles in economics. Today we are discussing Ronald Coase’s 1937 article The Nature of the Firm. Ronald Coase...
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A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare
Welcome to the third installment in our series of discussions of the Most Insightful Articles in economics. Today we are discussing Ken Arrows’s 1950 article A Difficulty in the Concept of Social...
View ArticleDo Elections Matter?
I am told that there will be an election next week. Actually nobody told me; it’s what I gathered from the yard signs. Elections, for me, are a spectator sport. I will probably be up all night watching...
View ArticleWhy Does Apple Offer Free Engraving?
This Black Friday, I had the occasion to ponder why it is that Apple offers free engraving on iPods and iPads (hereafter, iP*ds). A small part of the reason is surely that it adds value for some of its...
View ArticleApp Store Economics
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed last week that I have an app in the new Mac App Store. It’s called Gmail Dock, you can find more info about it here and here, and you can buy it here....
View ArticleHow Twitter Could Solve Its Spam Problem, For Good
Twitter spam is a frequent occurrence, and I typically ignore it, but not today. This morning I received this message from an account that has been spamming people for several days. I did my duty and...
View ArticleWhat Does Steve Jobs Show Us About Central Planning, Democracy, and Occupy...
Karl Smith playfully suggests that it is ironic that Steve Jobs has so many fans among Austrian economists: Apple was principally the complete opposite of the decentralized local-knowledge driven...
View ArticleIs There a Cybersecurity Market Failure?
That is the title of my Mercatus working paper (PDF), released yesterday. Basically, it aims to be a short course in public economics for tech policy analysts. Almost all policy wonks have taken Econ...
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