Tag-Archiv für » Ökonomie «

Blüten der modernen Gesellschaft: Scheidungen als Investition

Sonntag, 5. Dezember 2010 17:12

Ich lese gerade einen Artikel, der mir mal wieder das Gefühl gibt, unserer Welt in vieler Hinsicht den Spiegel vorzuhalten. Ein paar Facetten davon möchte ich hier weitergeben, ohne das Bild viel zu kommentieren. Es geht um einen neuen Wirtschaftszweig in den USA. Wohl schon länger ist es üblich, dass Investoren Menschen finanzieren, die mit Klagen vor Gericht Geld gewinnen können, den Rechtsstreit aber nicht selbst finanzieren können. Kommt es zum Gewinn, wird dieser zwischen Investor und Kläger aufgeteilt. Erst jetzt wurde aber entdeckt, dass auch Scheidungen solch lukrative juristische Auseinandersetzungen sein können. Wobei ein bisschen Idealismus mindestens bei manchen der Unternehmen auch dabei ist:

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Thema: Deutsch | Kommentare deaktiviert | Autor:

Why Expenditure Cuts Should Unite Left and Right

Dienstag, 23. November 2010 10:18

Greg Mankiw makes a compelling case in his recent NYTimes column that expenditure cuts (i.e. reducing tax exemptions) should please both political parties and both corresponding camps of society. A strong proposition along that line has been made by Obamas deficit reduction commission. Especially interesting: tax expenditures strongly favor people with high income. And Mankiw never even mentions the reduced hassle in filing taxes that would result from thinning out the expenditure forest!

Thema: English | Kommentare deaktiviert | Autor:

NYTimes Budget Puzzle

Montag, 15. November 2010 18:22

The NYTimes has an interactive puzzle where you get to select from a range of suggested ways for the government to save money, increase revenue and thus reduce the deficit. It’s certainly good to see these measures in the context of other ways to spend or save money, and with the background of „something has to be done“. Surely makes you understand politics and politicians a little bit better. Even though I never thought reducing the deficit was that easy! Here are my results. I just raised taxes for completeness‘ sake, the budget was balanced before…

Thema: English | Kommentare deaktiviert | Autor:

Capitalism’s Parasites — Trial Lawyers in Corporate America

Sonntag, 7. November 2010 13:23

An interesting NYTimes Magazine article (quite lengthy but entertaining) takes the judicial battles brought about by BP’s gulf oil spill as a prominent example and has a look at the US practice of „trial lawyers“. They can be seen as an alternative to extensive government regulation — while most European countries regulate in advance, US corporations are regulated by the prospect of huge compensations after accidents. In the complex judicial system, this has attracted a specialized brand of lawyers, the trial lawyers, whose business model is to monitor big corporations and look for opportunities to sue them.

Interestingly, the metaphor of parasites came to my mind even before that analogy was mentioned in the article. And while it is used there with the negative implication it has in everyday language, I immediately had an evolutionary perspective on it as well, where parasites are acknowledged for regulating the growth of their hosts and contributing to a dynamic balance.

Hardly surprising, the public opinion on them is mixed:

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Thema: English | Kommentare deaktiviert | Autor:

Konstruktivismus nach Zahlen — Zwei Seiten des US-Arbeitsmarktes

Sonntag, 24. Oktober 2010 20:39

Mal wieder über Greg Mankiw komme ich zu einem Video, dessen Inhalt eigentlich zu speziell ist, um mich wirklich zu interessieren. Es geht um die Arbeitsmarktentwicklung der USA und darum, welche Politik darauf wie gewirkt hat.

Spannend daran ist, dass auf sehr anschauliche Weise ein ehemaliger Wirtschaftsberater unter George W. Bush die Aussagen kritisiert, die in einem ursprünglichen Video vom derzeitigen Chef des ökonomischen Beratergremiums unter Barack Obama gemacht werden. Die Aussagen werden auf clevere Weise nebeneinander gestellt, und dabei wird sehr schön illustriert, wie wenig Halt leider die von beiden Seiten präsentierten „harten“ Zahlen bieten. Im Video klingt natürlich der Kritiker überzeugend, aber ich bin ziemlich sicher, dass sich dem wiederum überzeugend entgegnen ließe. Gibt es eine „richtige“ Art, Zahlen auszuwählen und zu interpretieren? Und wenn nicht, was dann?

Hier ist jedenfalls das Video:

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Thema: Deutsch | Kommentare deaktiviert | Autor:

Colbert on Taxing the Rich

Freitag, 22. Oktober 2010 12:30

Stephen Colbert explores in his usual wonderfully entertaining and at the same time thought-provoking manner the topic of taxing the rich, subject of some recent posts of mine. I also like that Greg Mankiw blogged about it as well — he seems to be a good sportsman ;) . Here is the video:

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Thema: English | Kommentare deaktiviert | Autor:

Has government spending failed in the crisis? We should have tried.

Freitag, 15. Oktober 2010 23:04

After giving quite some space to Greg Mankiw recently, I’d like to share an article by NYTimes Op-Ed columnist (and economist) Paul Krugman with you. He can be considered a member of the opposing (i.e. liberal, democrats-leaning) camp to Mankiw. In the column, he argues convincingly (and surprisingly) that the big rise in government spending that failed to really boost the US economy did so because it never really happened:

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Thema: English | Kommentare (2) | Autor:

Markets with Search Costs — Nobel Prize in Economics?!

Mittwoch, 13. Oktober 2010 0:53

I just read the „Popular Information“ about this year’s Nobel Prize Winners in Economics and don’t quite know whether I’m shocked or happy. It’s good stuff like that is being discovered. How very sad that it took till the 70s for this to catch on. Here’s the basic discovery:

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Thema: English | Kommentare (2) | Autor:

Obama and Wall Street

Sonntag, 19. September 2010 16:10

A NYTimes article about New York’s Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg supporting candidates of both parties across the country is worthy reading for the insights into two opposing political currents that are facing off right now. And that’s not the two parties — it’s a reconciliatory, bipartisan note versus a radical, partisan idea, incorporated most strongly by the Tea Party movement. And I think it’s outcome (partly to be decided already in the upcoming primaries and elections) will be quite influential for the American political climate of the next decade or so. But apart from recommending that read, what I wanted to share here is a quote from Bloomberg, depicting his (and assumedly many of his wealthy Wall Street friends‘) judgement of Obama’s financial politics:

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Thema: English | Kommentare deaktiviert | Autor:

Why shouldn’t we all be better off — critique of economists‘ notion of efficiency

Mittwoch, 15. September 2010 0:43

Again following pointers by Greg Mankiw, I found an economist criticizing the ideal of efficiency in a NYTimes „Economix“ blog post, and a critical (i.e., pro-efficiency) reply by another economist. So, what do economists traditionally recommend as good public policies?

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