Search

Presents the author's perception of the benefits of United States presidential candidate George W. Bush's economic proposals. Details of Bush's tax cut plan; Efforts of Bush to move toward the privatization of Social Security; His stance on antitrust policy and school choice.

Examines why the estate tax in the United States is unfair. Example of its shortcomings; Why the income tax should be replaced by a progressive consumption tax; How proponents view the estate tax.

Reports on the public opinion of the airline industry in light of airline consolidations in 2000. Author's idea to make cut back on delayed flights, missed connections and lost business opportunities, which is to make the airlines suffer rather than the passengers; Realization that the airlines have no incentive to make air travel more convenient for travelers; Suggested solution to air travelers' delays which is to make the airlines pay each time a traveler is delayed.

Reflects on the problems in Ukraine's economy as of June 2000. How Ukraine is struggling to make the transition to a market economy; Decrease of the average Ukrainian income by half; Why corruption is a large part of Ukraine's problems; Paradox of safety in city of Kiev; Economic impact of organized crime.

The article provides insights on the U.S. government's proposal to break up Microsoft Corp., which would create two companies that produce complementary products, operating systems and applications. However, there is an incentive to raise prices once the company is broken up. The companies would be given substitutable products and each would sell its own version of Windows. A simpler solution would be getting rid of the monopoly by revoking the inventor's patent and starting a new company.

Discusses the economic effect of the Clinton Presidency, in light of economic predictions made by his administration in 1994. Comparison of the predictions with the behavior of the economy since then; How the economy has outperformed every prediction; Discussion of various economic theories and how the behavior of the economy since 1994 has challenged those theories; Effect of raising taxes, lack of infrastructure spending and others on the economy.

Comments on United States Treasury Secretary Larry Summers' opposition to the Republican's summer 1999 estate tax cut proposal. Economist Summers' history of views on taxation; Analysis of estate tax impact on estate beneficiaries and on capital accumulation; Quotation from a previous Summers' statement on the detrimental impact of estate taxation on federal revenues.

Discusses the advent of retirement for United States Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. Placement of an institutional frame work after his tenure ends; The role of luck in Greenspan's legacy; Creation of falling commodity prices due to slump in Asian economy; Author's theory of inflation targeting.

Defends the use of educational vouchers as an incentive to competition among United Schools, with the aim of improving the quality of education. Effectiveness of competition among US colleges and universities; Findings of Harvard economist Caroline Minter Hoxby's study `Do Private Schools Provide Competition for Public Schools?'; Role of administration in school costs.

Discusses the debate in the United States Congress over how to cut taxes. Suggestion that the debate over tax policy needs to go beyond arguments about the level of taxation and consider the mix; How gasoline taxes improves incentives in various ways; Why environmentalists should favor a higher gasoline tax.

Criticizes the policies of the United State Department of Commerce. Measures announced by Commerce to reduce the import (dumping) of cheap steel from abroad; Principles upheld by the US government, including the promotion of free trade; Publicity received by the tariff conflict over bananas and luxury items between the US and Europe; Why the steel issue is more important than the tariff issue.

Focuses on U.S. President Bill Clinton's proposal to save Social Security in part by selling some government bonds and using the proceeds to invest in stocks. Problems associated with the government ownership of corporate bonds; Fact that the government taxes capital gains and 401(k) distributions and it already has a large implicit position in equities; Advantage of the privatization proposal.

Compares the economy of 1998 Japan with that of the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The rising unemployment rates and falling production rates in both instances; Details of the book `The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money,' by John Maynard Keynes; Advice to Japan on how to end the financial crisis.

Considers the United States market for inflation-indexed government bonds. Implications of the yield on ten-year indexed bonds; Signs of deflation; The link between unemployment and inflation; Protection for a bond portfolio that is offered by indexed bonds.

Links the teaching of language to economic theory. Economic theory of networks; Description of a network; How the principle of free markets do no work with networks; Network-driven market failures; Claim that computer operating systems are like languages therefore, a fortiori, like networks; How this argument justifies the government investigation of Microsoft Corporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses fears of world overpopulation in light of Bill McKibben's 1998 book `Maybe One: A Personal and Environmental Argument for Single-Child Families.' The failure of Thomas Malthus' predictions about the impact of ever-increasing population on standard of living; Failure of Paul Ehrlich's predictions in his 1968 book `The Population Bomb'; Rebuttal to the resource arguments of population pessimists.

Focuses on the projections of `Long-Term Budgetary Pressures and Policy Options,' a 1998 report from the United States Congressional Budget Office. Quantification of probable differences between future US government spending and tax revenues; Its projection of government debt as more than 200% of gross domestic product by 2050; Impact of the retirement of baby boomers around the year 2020; Suggested solution.

Discusses the book `The Overspent American,' by Juliet Schor. The materialistic war between consumers that can never be won; The role of television in promoting upper-class spending patterns; The discovery that the more one watches television the less they save.

Focuses on President Bill Clinton's success at negotiating a higher price for Mexican tomatoes in United States markets as an explanation for the defeat of fast-track trade negotiations. Relation of Mexican tomatoes and tomato pricing to fair trade policies; Conflict between policies and politics; Question of whether Americans would elect a president who speaks truthfully about trade; Implications for the world economy.

Presents three factors which can alter the short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment in the United States. Inflation expections; Supplies of goods and services; Labor-market conditions.

Focuses on the White House Conference on the New Economy and how politicians constantly take credit for the prosperous economy. Belief that the economy is primarily technological and not a byproduct of Washington; How United States President Bill Clinton shared the stage with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and neither mentioned the Microsoft antitrust case.

Discusses the United States record-breaking economic expansion that has been going on for 107 months as of February 2000 and discusses why recessions are less frequent than they were a century ago. The previous record-setting economic expansion that ended in December 1969; How deposit insurance has help the public to remain confident in banks; The role that automatic stabilizers play.

Focuses on the economic theory of Columbia University economist Robert Mundell, who received the 1999 Nobel Prize for Economics. His 1960s theory on the global economy, and its effects on the policy of the 1990s; Contrasts to the theory of 1930s economist John Maynard Keynes; The Mundell-Fleming model, developed with Marcus Fleming.

Comments on stock market theory and stock prices. Reference to a book `Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market,' by James K. Glassman and Kevin A. Hassett; Discussion of Glassman and Hassett's argument that the market is undervalued; Assertion that equity risk premium, which affects stock price, will not fall to zero.

Comments on the United States personal saving rate, which was negative as of January 1999. How the rate is measured; Factors in the decline of the personal savings rate, including the role of investments in the stock market; The case for increased saving; How policy makers can encourage saving.

Questions the Russian central bank's plan to print more money in the wake of the summer and fall 1998 economic crisis. Suggestion that dollarization may be the most effective way to stabilize the Russian economy; Dollarization as an extreme form of a fixed exchange rate; Destruction of currency by hyperinflation being destructive to capitalism.

Discusses the book `Two Lucky People,' the memoirs of Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman.

Notes the results of the author's informal poll of his fellow economists about their investment strategies as of spring 1998. Discovery of a group that had almost all their portfolio in equities and their reasons; Another group that had almost nothing in equities and their reasons; The author's constant 60 percent exposure to equities with the rest in cash and bonds.

Contends that Social Security is pretending to be a pension plan, but is really a pyramid scheme. Comparison of a pension plan to a pyramid scheme; The downward trend in the return on Social Security; Why seeing Social Security as a pyramid scheme explains why the aging of the population is so problematic.

Discusses the view that younger workers should face lower income tax rates. Reasons why the government should offer a tax cut to younger workers; The perceived ease of improving incentives for young workers; Their flexibility; Their responsiveness to work incentives;

Discusses United States Senator Bob Dole's small but significant role in the Microsoft antitrust case. How Microsoft's rivals recruited Dole for his political clout; Details of the Justice Department's claim that Microsoft is illegally attempting to expand its market power by bundling Windows with its Internet browser.

Reflects on the problems in Ukraine's economy as of June 2000. How Ukraine is struggling to make the transition to a market economy; Decrease of the average Ukrainian income by half; Why corruption is a large part of Ukraine's problems; Paradox of safety in city of Kiev; Economic impact of organized crime.