Category Frances Woolley
Worthwhile D.I.Y. Macroeconomics?
The New York Times has just published its 2010 "Year in Ideas" issue. One of the trends it identifies: D.I.Y. Macroeconomics. The financial crisis plus the growing availability of on-line data has given rise to "growing army of knowledgeable 'econo-bloggers'." I agree with one of their conclusions: econo-bloggers "offer sophisticated interpretations of economic data […]
The arithmetic of household debt
The interest rate on your mortgage is three percent. If the interest rate increases one percentage point, the interest component of your monthly mortgage payments will increase by approximately: a. 1 percent b. 10 percent c. 25 percent d. 33 percent e. None of the above.
Starbucks Bucks
What do you do when you're stuck in an airport with 15 pounds or 20 euros of local currency? It's not worth paying foreign exchange fees on such a small sum. It's not enough money to buy whisky at Heathrow. So I generally take it home and put it aside for the next journey – […]
Radical tax policy ideas – or just bad ones?
In a recent article in Policy Options, Professor Tom Kent proposed bewildering variety of tax policy suggestions. Most are, in my opinion, bad ideas. His most radical one is to abolish the corporate income tax and the dividend tax credit.
Does Canada need a progressive consumption tax?
Robert Frank argues that the US should replace its income tax with a progressive consumption tax: By replacing federal income taxes with a steeply progressive consumption tax, the United States could erase the federal deficit, stimulate additional savings, pay for valuable public services and reduce overseas borrowing — all without requiring difficult sacrifices from taxpayers. […]
The political economy of porkbarrel politics
The headline in the Ottawa Citizen proclaimed "Tory ridings won more tourism grants." In ridings currently held by Canada's governing Conservative party, 3/4 of requests for tourism grants were approved. In other ridings, just half of requests were. Now, Conservative ridings tend to be rural and suburban ridings, while non-Conservative ridings are more likely to […]
Over-selling soap
The news item dominated the New York Time's "Most Popular" list for weeks: For your dishwasher's sake – go easy on the detergent. According to the authoritative appliance repairman cited by the Times, “Most people use 10 to 15 times the amount of soap they need, and they’re pouring money down the drain." Wait a […]
Does monitoring charities make a difference?
The website charitynavigator.org rates US charities. Although it's now changing its rating system, a charity that spends a low percentage of its budget on fundraising and administration will usually get a high rating. It's not clear how much influence sites like charitynavigator have. A recent article reported that only 10 percent of Americans consulted a […]
The evolutionary value of cancer
A recent article in Nature Reviews documents the rarity of cancer in antiquity, and speculates that "carcinogenic environmental factors in modern societies" may explain today's much higher cancer rates. Without disputing the authors' basic premise or conclusions, I wish to posit an alternative explanation: old people are useless. Women typically finish child bearing by 40 […]
Public Enemy and public goods
Once upon a time, musicians made money by selling albums. Now that people download music, this strategy doesn't work well. But what is the alternative? In 2007, Radiohead thrilled fans and economists alike with a new approach to music distribution. They distributed their album In Rainbows electronically, allowing fans to pay any price they chose […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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