Category: Economics
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Gambling study flawed. Ask casino workers.
Did you know that a study used to promote the economic development benefits of gambling in Wichita has casino workers paying for a large part of the social costs of gambling?
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The law vs. markets
One of the criticisms of raising the minimum wage is that it is Congress substituting its judgment for the market’s in determining pay. While Congress can force an employer to pay an employee a minimum amount, it can’t force the employer to keep the employee.
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Sugarcane not so sweet
Driving though the sugarcane fields of southern Louisiana during harvest, it is impossible not to dwell upon the politics behind it all. Those politics being the sugar subsidy and the benefits it brings to these farmers, and the cost of it to the rest of us.
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Unintended but foreseeable harms of the minimum wage
Understanding the minimum wage, and why an increase will be harmful to those it is meant to help, requires thinking beyond stage one.
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Problem of low wages not easily solved
It seems like an easy fix for social injustice: pass a law requiring employers to pay workers more than they would otherwise. Magically, everyone has more wealth. It would be nice if it were so easy and simple. Looking at only the immediate effects and listening to the rhetoric of some politicians and editorial writers,…
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The AirTran subsidy and its unseen effects
In a June 16, 2006 column, Wichita Eagle editorial writer Rhonda Holman again congratulates local and state government for its success in renewing the AirTran subsidy, and for getting the entire state of Kansas to help for it.
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Economics In One Lesson, 50th Anniversary Edition
This book, first published in 1946, explains common fallacies (a false or mistaken idea) that are particularly common in the field of economics and public policy.
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The Undercover Economist
This is an enjoyable book that explains the basics of how economics works, which is to say, how the world works. Mr. Harford doesn’t go into any technical detail at all, so there are no charts and graphs to decipher (although a very few are used for illustration), and there are no mathematical formulas.
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Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity
This is a wonderful book that can teach anyone what is important to know about economics. It teaches the insights that people can use to understand and evaluate the mechanism of our economy and government themselves. It is not a textbook with charts, graphs, and formulas. It requires no special prerequisite from the reader.