Author Archives: wciecon
Three Short Observations on the Economics of Waterways
The Rhine River is the heart of significant economic activity as a European transport and commercial corridor. Running 1,233 km from the Alps to the North Sea, its rich economic hinterland generates commercial traffic, which made it attractive as a source of revenue for regional lords and masters for centuries. Hence, the numerous castles, which […]
Pictures of Selma-Montgomery
James Dean knows how to tell a story. These days he'll share his thoughts on Burning Man ["But Ed, you and I know you can't run an economy this way"] or on advising the South Sudan government how to set up its central bank. But his best stories are from his days as a graduate student at Harvard in the […]
Can Chinese Tourism Save Europe?
In its long history, France and Paris have been invaded numerous times but the latest invasion from the East is not from Les Allesmands but from China. Its only May but Paris is already inundated with tourists and many of them are from China and Japan. A recent story by Arnaud de la Grange in […]
Is the abandonment of religion greatly exaggerated?
The headlines around the release of the National Household Survey have proclaimed "Many Canadians are losing their religion". Yet it is not obvious this claim stands up to serious scrutiny. Canada's religious profile evolves in two fundamentally different ways. First, people immigrate or emigrate, are born or die. Every new Canadian has their own religious […]
Yup, the NHS did produce some weird data
While writing a short comment for today's Globe, I put together a table comparing the 2011 National Household Survey data on ethnicity with the 2006 data. As the raw numbers didn't make it the Globe article, I'm reproducing them here:
Macroeconomics when all goods are non-rival
Sometimes it's good to build really weird models. Because bits of the real world are a bit weird, even if the whole world isn't as totally weird as the model, and taking an extreme case can help us understand the effect of those weird bits. Plus it's fun. I'm going to assume that all produced […]
Testing productivity shocks vs labour hoarding in a traditional industry?
This is just an idea that's been floating uselessly in my mind for some time. I have never been able to apply it. But maybe someone out there could. This isn't an earth-shattering post. Maybe someone else has already thought of the same idea. Or even applied it, and I just haven't heard about it. […]
Monetary stimulus vs financial stability is a false trade-off
There's an idea floating around out there that I fear may be influential. And that idea is horribly wrong. Which makes it dangerous. And I want to try to kill it. But macro is hard. And it's not easy to explain clearly and simply. I can only try. And I can only hope that others […]
Financial literacy in the popcorn aisle
A short financial literacy quiz: Take a look at the picture on the right. How much does one box of popcorn cost? The correct answer, for this particular box, is $1.50. However it is not obvious that "two for $3" implies "one for $1.50". In other contexts, customers must make a minimum purchase to obtain […]
How should economists respond to the National Household Survey release?
On May 8th, the results of the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) will be released. The voluntary nature of the NHS will compromise the quality of the data collected. For example, the National Household Survey asks people about their religious beliefs. Yet religion has a strong influence on volunteering and civic engagement. The National Survey of […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Recent Comments