Category Archives: Uncategorized

The US Department of the Interior has identified a list of 35 “critical minerals,” which is “a mineral identified to be a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic and national security of the United States, the supply chain of which is vulnerable to disruption, and that serves an essential function in theContinue reading “Venting about the Helium Market”

Here’s a topic for lunch-table, hallway, and water-cooler conversation: How much would you be willing to pay, in actual money, for an additional 30 years of life expectancy? The question is hypothetical, but linked in reality. During the 20th century, life expectancy for an American increased by about 30 years. What are those extra 30Continue reading “Inequality in US Life Expectancy”

It seems quite clear (at least to me) that there is often discriminatory feeling against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people. One can also observe a range of survey evidence and outcomes for people in these categories in terms of family life (including marriage and parenthood), education, health, and economic outcomes. But forContinue reading “The Challenges of Measuring Discrimination Against LGBTI Individuals”

I did not know that by far most violent deaths in the world are a result of murder, not war. The pattern is reported in Global Violent Deaths 2017: Time to Decide, by Claire Mc Evoy and Gergely Hideg. It’s a report from Small Arms Survey, which is a research center at the Graduate InstituteContinue reading “Most Global Violent Deaths are Murder, Not War”

“Today around 2.8 billion people � 38% of the global population and almost 50% of the population in developing countries � lack access to clean cooking. Most of them cook their daily meals using solid biomass in traditional stoves. In 25 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 90% of households rely on wood, charcoal and waste forContinue reading “The Clean Cooking Problem: 2.3 Million Deaths Annually”

If you look at the high-income countries of the world–the US and Canada, much of Europe, Japan, Australia–all of them have government which spend amounts equal to one-third or more of GDP (combining both central and regional or local government). Apparently, high-income countries have relatively large government. Conversely, when you look at some of theContinue reading “A Classic Question: Does Government Empower or Stifle?”

“At $164 trillion�equivalent to 225 percent of global GDP�global debt continues to hit new record highs almost a decade after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Compared with the previous peak in 2009, the world is now 12 percent of GDP deeper in debt, reflecting a pickup in both public and nonfinancial private sector debt afterContinue reading “Global Debt Hits All-Time High”

U.S. tax returns and taxes owed for 2017 are due today, April 17. To commemorate, I offer some connections to five posts about federal income taxes from the last few years. Click on the links if you’d like additional discussion and sources for of any of these topics. 1) Should Individual Income Tax Returns be PublicContinue reading “Some Economics for Tax Filing Day”

Those who fill out a US tax return always face a choice. On one hand, there is a “standard deduction,” which is the amount you deduce from your income before calculating your taxes owed on the rest. On the other hand, there are a group of individual tax deductions: for mortgage interest, state and localContinue reading “The Share of Itemizers and the Politics of Tax Reform”

Great Britain first had an income tax in 1799, but then abolished it in 1816. In honor of US federal tax returns being due tomorrow, April 17, here’s a quick synopsis of the story. Great Britain was in an on-and-off war with France for much of the 1790s. The British government borrowed heavily and wasContinue reading “When Britain Repealed Its Income Tax in 1816”