An economist must be “mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher, in some degree . . . as aloof and incorruptible as an artist, yet sometimes as near the earth as a politician.” So remarked John Maynard Keynes, the great British economist who, as much as anyone, could be called the father of macroeconomics. No single statement summarizes better what it means to be an economist. As Key…
America’s economic development is a top public policy priority. A lack of federal consensus on an overall economic development strategy in Washington, DC has been filled in by regions and states across the nation. Successful local and state economic development strategies center around basic or building block strategies and more advanced five drivers strategies centering on specific industry …
Government intervention is perhaps the most universal institutional change in the development of modern economies. Yet there is considerable debate on the relationship between economic development and the expansion of government. The relationship has been viewed as causal, but both directions have been emphasized. To many, government fosters economic growth. To others, economic growth, because …
The aim of this book is to provide an introductory treatment of time series econometrics that builds upon the basic statistical and regression techniques contained in my Analysing Economic Data: A Concise Introduction.1 It is written from the perspective that the econometric analysis of economic and financial time series is of key importance to both students and practitioners of economics and s…
In this chapter I provide an overview of research on social networks and their role in shaping behavior and economic outcomes. I include discussion of empirical and theoretical analyses of the role of social networks in markets and exchange, learning and diffusion, and network games. I also include some background on social network characteristics and measurements, models of network formation,…
Even in the early 19th century, John C. Calhoun described the United States as divided between the "tax payers and tax eaters." And today, we can use that same analysis. Ludwig von Mises called the battle between these two artificially created groups a "caste conflict," in contradistinction to Karl Marx's class conflict. There can be no natural class conflict in society, since the free market …
Ña Fabiana stacked the plastic bags full of clothes on a chair as we dis- cussed the final items that remained from her investment the previous year. She spread out the last of her inventory: soft microfleece gloves for children and adults, brightly colored striped socks with individual toes, winter coats, and children’s turtleneck shirts. Some of the clothing had become stained in storage …