Newmark's Door

A piece I would want all anti-free trade policymakers to read and take seriously. What is frustrating about the anti-trade argument--often expressed as "We need a tariff because cheap imports devastated these towns"--is OK, but if we allow tariff s to protect those jobs, where will it stop?? Competition in a market economy will always cause some folks to lose their jobs and once you make that a reason for intervening there is no way to stop intervening,  with hugely detrimental effects on the economy.

Arnold Kling argues that our measurement of productivity is less precise than it appears.

I am not trying to claim that the last fifty years have seen more improvement in the standard of living than the previous fifty years. But I contend that it is more of an open question than what the usual statistics would lead you to believe.

"Pay to extend former President Donald Trump's cuts by cleaning out the tax code of unfair, costly tax breaks that aren't shared by enough Americans."

Absolutely: "Politicizing the Economics Nobel is bad for the Nobel and bad for economics".

Related: "The Nobel Laureates Strike Out" and Clifford Asness: "Left wing economists, given Nobel prizes by a left wing NGO, speak up for left wing economics. Film at eleven."

This piece is almost 11 years old, but still a very interesting look at the business of running a hot dog stand in Manhattan. For a cart near the Central Park zoo the license fee was $289,500/year.

Cute.

Absolutely. And for the reason given: "Messi does two jobs brilliantly. Ronaldo does one job brilliantly. That's the difference."

Counting Crows.

Missing some of my favorites--Fernando, Wayne and Garth, Hans and Franz--but it's still a strong list.

R.E.M.