Plain Sense Economics

I can’t believe that my local state representative, whom I’ve met several times and who came and talked with one of my University Seminar classes, will be introducing a rent control law for mobile home parks in the next state legislative session. Technically, the law requires justification of rent increases, instead of an absolute price [...]

In a couple of weeks I’ll be starting two sections of Principles of Microeconomics. Pretty early on we start engaging in the debate over the appropriate role of government in markets. The early discussions will focus on generally bad government intervention – like rent control. Later we’ll find areas where it makes sense for government [...]

I found an interesting, if a bit tenuous, connection between the issue of securitized mortgages and policy implications for health insurance. Let’s see if the connection works…
All of us “hind-sight is 20/20″ folks have noted the dangers inherent in the securitizing of mortgages. In addition to all the risk factors and unknowns, this process also [...]

Gregory Mankiw wrote in The New York Times about how to capture the (underwhelming in numbers) economists’ vote. Take a look at the issues he presents and then see if you agree. Use simple demand and supply curves to describe the market and then draw your own conclusions.
Here’s an example: Mankiw argues that most economists [...]

In both my principles of micro course and my freshman seminar we have been discussing the appropriate role of government in our economy. Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt of Freakonomics fame, contributed an article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine today – on unintended consequences.
When the Federal government imposes a luxury tax, intended to [...]