"In the last quarter-century, one of the most intriguing findings in behavioral science goes under the unlovely name of preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations of options. The basic idea is that when people evaluate options A and B separately, they prefer A to B, but when they evaluate the two jointly, they prefer B to A." Thus, Cass R. Sunstein begins his interesting and readable paper "On preferring A to B, while also preferring B to A" (Rationality and Society 2018, first published July 11, 2018, subscription required).
Whenever we talk about tax cuts and growth-oriented tax programs in Europe, many tell us that “it is not possible” and that the European Union does not allow it.
The recent strength in the US dollar and stock market weakness has generated many headlines about “risk-off” mentality. However, the reality is quite different. We are far from capitulation.
For a few decades now, the US and Europe have been managing their plastic waste by shipping it to China and other countries in east Asia for recycling and reuse. But in the last few years, China has been tightening up what it was willing to import, wanting only plastic waste that is uncontaminated. In 2017, China announced that in the future it was banning the import of nonindustrial plastic waste -- that is the plastic waste generated by households.
The best time to fix your roof is when the weather is sunny and warm, not when it's rainy, cold--and actually leaking. In a similar spirit, the best time to fix unemployment insurance is when the unemployment rate is low. Conor McKay, Ethan Pollack, andAlastair Fitzpayne offer some ideas in "Modernizing Unemployment Insurance for the Changing Nature of Work" (Aspen Institute, January 2018). They write:
Watch my conversation with Jeff Deist at Mises Institute about the challenges of monetary policy, the risks of demand-side policies and how Austrian economics can help deliver solutions to current challenges.
As US interest rates continue to normalise and US tariffs begin to bite, a number of emerging markets (EM’s) have come under pressure. Of course, the largest market to exhibit signs of stress is China, the MSCI China Index is down 7% since mid-June, whilst the RMB has also weakened against the US$ by more than 6% since its April low. Will contagion spread to developed markets and, if so, which country might be the ‘carrier’?