Category Teaching
In praise of cookbook econometrics
Cookbook econometrics has few fans. I am one of them. Cookbook econometrics provides clear algorithms for solving econometrics problems, without providing detailed explanations of why these algorithms work, or why specific steps in that algorithm are required.
Nine steps to cleaner data
Real world data is messy. Dirty. Untidy. Before you can even think about using all of those pretty techniques you learned in econometrics class, you need to clean up the data. Here is my nine step approach.
The Long Hand of Medieval Economic Thought…
In the current Ontario election campaign, both the Ontario Conservatives and the NDP have put in their platforms pledges to remove the HST from home hydro bills and home heating. It is argued that these items are not luxuries and that the HST has made life less affordable for families. The NDP goes a step […]
The overlooked failure in pension markets
Public economics textbooks have lists of reasons why pension markets fail. People aren't aware of the need for for retirement savings, either because they're short sighted, or have limited cognitive abilities. Annuities markets fail, because only people who know they are likely will live a long time will choose to purchase annuities. Private markets may […]
An academic integrity policy for faculty?
Carleton University has a 14 page academic integrity policy governing student conduct. It describes in detail the various types of unacceptable behaviour, the process for investigating allegations of misconduct, and the various consequences a student might face. There is no parallel policy for faculty. Perhaps that's because no such policy is necessary. After all, faculty […]
Thinking About Economics
As part of my fall teaching load, I will be teaching what economists sometimes refer to as “History of Thought” but which is more correctly termed the “History of Economic Thought” or perhaps “Evolution of Economic Theory and Analysis”.
I=S
There's a lot of people wandering around the internet who are very confused about Investment = Saving. Maybe they have been mistaught, or maybe they have mislearned? I don't know. But I'm doing this as a public service, even though it's a thoroughly boring job for me. Someone's got to do it. And since I've […]
Turning an interesting topic into a research hypothesis
On a recent visit to a small Bulgarian town, I was struck by the gardens. There were no lawns or hostas. Instead every inch of every garden was planted with fruit and vegetables. To me, this is an interesting topic. Why are Bulgarians so much more prone to vegetable gardening than Canadians? Yet how can […]
A simple Keynesian-monetarist brain-teaser
Mostly for fun. Mostly for economics undergraduates. But I think there may be some serious lessons too. Sometimes I like to really push a model, into an extreme limiting case. To see if I can still get my head around it. To see if my intuition is lining up with what the math is telling […]
The escalating cost of cheating
Custom essay network offers to "custom write your college essays to match your language skills and academic level, whether you are a school, pre-college student having English as your second language or you are a Ph.D. student skilled in the language….In our work we use the same plagiarism scanning services as the most of your teachers use. […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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