Archives: November 2006

Robin Hanson Advocates Journalistic Malpractice

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 29, Categories: Journalism

Robin Hanson (who I generally like) writes: Consider how differently the public treats physics and economics. Physicists can say that this week they think the universe has eleven dimensions, three...

Labor Share Drops Again

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 29, Categories: Labor Market

The labor share of corporate output continues to plunge. Based on today's GDP numbers, labor compensation now accounts for only 61.9% of corporate value-added, marking the seventh straight drop. It's...

Deficit dementia

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 28, Categories: Fiscal Policy

My regular readers know that I'm not terribly worried about the budget deficit, at least at current levels (see for example this piece here). Nor am I particularly worried about...

Surprise! Enough scientists and engineers?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 27, Categories: Labor Market

According to a new report from the National Science Foundation, science and engineering doctorates hit an all-time high in 2005. Fields reaching new highs include biological sciences, engineering, mathematics, and...

The Economics of Envy

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 27, Categories: Income Distribution

Lou Uchitelle, in today's NYT, has a front page article entitled "Very Rich Are Leaving the Merely Rich Behind." In it he writes The opportunity to become abundantly rich is...

New York City: The Lowest Unemployment Rate in 30 years

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 20, Categories: Labor Market

This is a followup to my "musical chairs economy" piece. According to a new report from the New York State Labor Department, the unemployment rate in New York City dropped...

The Musical-Chairs Economy

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 14, Categories: Labor Market

Here's the question for today: If the unemployment rate is only 4.4%, why do we all feel so dang nervous about our jobs? More here...

Will the Dems Raise Taxes?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 13, Categories: Fiscal Policy

Probably not, if this chart is any guide. The thin blue line tracks federal revenues as a share of GDP (through the second quarter of 2006). The purple horizontal line...

Virtue is not rewarded

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 13, Categories: Trade

Take a look at this chart. The blue bars are U.S. manufacturing productivity growth, and the crimson bars are U.S. manufacturing output growth. The good news: Manufacturing productivity is growing...

Does the Election Really Matter for Economic Policy?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 10, Categories: Fiscal Policy

Take a look at my new cover story, "What the Election Won't Change" Comments?...

Did the Government Really Hire that Many People?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 03, Categories: Labor Market

Is the unemployment rate really 4.4%? I've got some doubts. A big reason why the unemployment rate has been dropping is an apparent hiring spree by government bureaucrats. The number...

Watch out for Wikipedia

Posted by: Michael Mandel on November 01, Categories: Macro

So I was researching the 'misery index'--the unemployment rate plus the inflation rate--and of course looked at the wikipedia entry. The very first sentence says: The Misery Index is an...