From the Hampton Inn and Suites at the University of Missouri. Out the window a galeforce wind is blowing over a car park, a garage and a huge expanse of leafless trees over some ragged hillsides, rather like the Blue Mountains in winter. In the foreground three flagpoles, one with an emblem like the Balmain Tiger. Of course, the tiger is the emblem of the Uni of Missouri sports teams!
My host at the Uni will be Peter Klein, Critical Rationalist scholar and one of the team at Organizations and Markets. He identifies with the Austrians but not in a way that cuts him off from colleagues in other streams of thought. This is a great interview which explains how he managed this.
The point of a research article in economics should be to understand some real problem, and not simply to illustrate the use of a particular method. Again, the same criticism can be applied to some neoclassical economists. Mathematical models on their own rarely tell us something that can t be described in plain terms. A lot of game theory, for example, has consisted of endless variations of similar models with very few novel conclusions.
How can an economist tell if he is doing something worthwhile? I think he should ask himself, with regard to a piece of research: Could I provide a rough explanation of this to my mother in a few sentences? If he can’t do that, it’s probably not a good piece of research in economics.
Steve Horwitz notes that humanity moves onward and upward despite the claims of the left that the 1% is getting all the goodies.
And perhaps most important: a diminishing percentage of humanity lives on less than $1 per day, and global income inequality is falling as well.
Scandalous refusal of police to maintain the rule of law where trade union strikers are involved. W H Hutt suggested during the rule of the trade unions in Britain that the very rule of law itself was under threat from the “strike threat system” operating with laws introduced to favour the trade unions.
More bad news for warming alarmists. Don’t expect it to stop any time soon. Hey, that reminds me, what do you think about that Jason?
Skills shortages in the USA. Jerry O’Driscoll reports:
It is a widespread problem: the article reports survey results showing that 83 percent of manufacturers reported a moderate or severe shortage of skilled production workers. The shortages include such categories as machinists. Wages for skilled labor are rising, in some cases at double-digit rates.
Unskilled labor is complementary to skilled labor. If skilled labor cannot be hired, there is no demand for unskilled labor. Some firms report that the inability to hire needed workers is their greatest impediment to growing their business.
Humour courtesy of Lorenzo Warby. Jesus Christ in trouble with trade practices and an operatic tribute to bankers.
Tim Blair on the climate-related corruption of the BBC. In case you don’t think that terrible people like Andrew Bolt and Tim Blair should be dismissed as rightwing cranks, like Chris Monckton and Jo Nova. Also from Tim Blair, the market for portable weapons is booming in the middle east.
Gilbert and Sullivan on the law of supply and demand.
When every blessed thing you hold
Is made of silver, or of gold,
You long for simple pewter.
When you have nothing else to wear
But cloth of gold and satins rare,
For cloth of gold you cease to care —
Up goes the price of shoddy.
