by Gavin Kennedy Spare Us From the Invisible Hand Patrick Kilbride writes in Chamber Post HERE: “Free People, Free Minds, Free Markets” ‘In the 18th-century, Adam Smith left us with the indelible image of markets producing desirable social outcomes through the work of an “invisible hand.” ’ CommentIn an otherwise neat argument for both liberty […]

rdan Stereotypes and the brain suggests that older folk (over 60-88) are more susceptible to stereotypical thinking than younger people (age 18-25). A decade ago, a research team led by William von Hippel of the University of Queensland challenged that assumption. The psychologists proposed that older people may exhibit greater prejudice because they have difficulty […]

by Gavin Kennedy (cross posted from Adam Smith’s Lost Legacy) Elinor Ostrom – An End to Homo Economicus? Mario Rizzo writes (13 Oct) in Wall Street Pit HERE and Here: “Elinor Ostrom and the Relevance of Economics” “In fact, I would venture the guess than most economists had not heard of her before the prize […]

rdan Dean Baker suggests an intriguing innovation to competition in healthcare: While health care may at first blush not seem suitable for international trade, since the delivery is place specific, on closer inspection there are ways that the United States could benefit from the more efficient health care systems of other countries. The most obvious […]

by Gavin Kennedy(cross posted from Adam Smith’s Lost Legacy) Identify the Invisible Hand! Alex Tabarrok writes on the Nobel Prize for Oliver Williamson in an article on the Marginal Revolution Blog “Oliver Williamson and the pin factory”, which is fine but it contains the following paragraph: “Transaction cost economics is all about applying these ideas […]

by cactus I live in a city of with less than a quarter million people. (The greater metropolitan area is larger, of course – there are well over half a million people in the surrounding area.) Since we moved here a year and change ago, its hard to avoid noticing that in this city, politics […]

by Linda Beale A Year and Counting: re-regulation of Wall Street On Monday night, I participated in a symposium on the Financial Crisis: One Year Later, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Citizenship and others. With me were Larry Ingrassia, Business Editor of the New York Times, and Chip Dickson, CFO of W2Freedom, […]