Author Archives: Susann Lees

LIBOR stands for “London Interbank Offered Rate.” For a long time, it was probably most common  benchmark interest rate in the world–that is, it was the built into trillions of dollars worth of loans and financial contracts that if the LIBOR interest rate went up or down, the contract would adjust accordingly. However, a hugeContinue reading “Replacing LIBOR: An International Overview”

Every few years, the OECD puts out an its Society at a Glance report. The later chapters offer  comparisons across high-income countries on a variety of economic, demographic, health, education, and social variables. For the 2019 edition, the first chapter is on the more specific topic,  “The LGBT challenge: How to better include sexual andContinue reading “Some LGBT Economics in High Income Countries”

About 40 years ago, when I was a junior on the high school debate team, we argued for the abolition of the money bail system. Like many positions taken by high school juniors in debate tournaments, our arguments were sweeping and simplistic. But we were correct in recognizing that there are real problems with moneyContinue reading “The Unfairness of Money Bail”

“The Federal Government is the Nation�s largest employer, and its footprint is global. The total workforce comprises approximately 2.1 million non-postal civilian workers and 1.4 million active duty military, as well as approximately one million military reserve personnel serving throughout the country and the world. The postal workforce includes an additional 500,000 employees. Approximately 85Continue reading “Federal Employee Pay: A Trial Balloon”

Royal Regis Travel &Tours LLC. FRAUD COMPANY ROYAL REGIS TRAVEL FRAUD COMPANY, DON`T WAIST UR MONEY I want to inform everyone about Royal Regis Travel & Tour’s. I got a call that, I have won a gold coin and holiday Voucher, to collect the prize, and I have to attend a conference of 45 minutesContinue reading “Royal Regis Fraud Scam”

Teachers of intro economics, as well as industrial organization classes, are often on the lookout for recent examples of market shares that can be used for talking about the extent to which certain markets are concentrated or competitive. The W3 Counter offers a monthly breakdown of market shares for browsers and platforms. For February 2019,Continue reading “Market Shares for Browsers and Platforms”

The Office of Management and Budget released President Trump’s  proposed budget for fiscal year 2020 a few weeks ago. I confess that when the budget comes out I don’t pay much attention to the spending numbers for this year or the five-year projections. Those numbers are often build on sand and political wishfulness, and there’s plentyContinue reading “Some US Social Indicators Since 1960”

In the latest installment of its “Global Perspectives” series of conversations, Robert S. Kaplan of the Dallas Fed, discussed national and global economic issues with Greg Mankiw on March 7, 2019. The full 50 minutes of video is available here. For a quick sample, here’s what Mankiw had do say on what economists don�t understandContinue reading “Interview With Greg Mankiw at the Dallas Fed”

A common goal for principles of economics courses is to teach students to “think like economists.” I’ve always been a little skeptical of that  high-sounding goal. It seems like a lot to accomplish in a semester or two. I’m reminded of an essay written by Deirdre McCloskey back in 1992, which argued that while undergraduatesContinue reading “Can Undergraduates Be Taught to Think Like Economists?”

During the 1990s, a social and legal expectation arose in the United States that single mothers would usually be in the workforce, even when their children were young. In turn, this immediately raised a question of how child care would be provided. The 2019 Economic Report of the President. from the White House Council of EconomicContinue reading “Child Care and Working Mothers”