Category: Data Source

Pollution is more globalized too:

Bruce Hope, a senior environmental toxicologist at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, estimates that global sources contribute 18 percent–more than four times the local share–to Oregon’s air pollution.  Increasingly, the ozone on the west coast will be determined by China.  In California, for example, some researchers believe at least one-third of California’s fine particulate pollution–known as aerosol–originates from Asia.  These pollutants could potentially nullify California’s progress on meeting stricter Clean Air Act requirements.  In May 2006, University of California-Davis researchers claimed that almost all the particulate matter over Lake Tahoe was from China.  The great irony is that these pollutants are mainly due to the burgeoning demand of U.S. and EU consumers for cheap Chinese goods–which is driving the Chinese economic development.  Some estimates cite that 7 percent of China’s CO₂emissions are due to production of U.S. imports.

Here is the source, the pointer is from Robin Hanson.  Concerning the last sentence, if you haven’t already seen it by now, here is Hal Varian’s piece on where the iPod is made.

Between 2000 and 2005, [real] compensation for the average worker rose $3000.  But money income was only 29% of the increase.

Here is the link.  Some of you will understand the title of this post…

Enough said.  Thanks to Christopher Hessenflow for the pointer.

That sign is from Brasilia, here is the link.

Our analysis indicates that the
increased product variety of online bookstores enhanced consumer
welfare by $731 million to $1.03 billion in the year 2000, which is
between seven to ten times as large as the consumer welfare gain from
increased competition and lower prices in this market.  There may also
be large welfare gains in other SKU-intensive consumer goods such as
music, movies, consumer electronics, and computer software and
hardware.

   
   
      
       

Here is the paper, the pointer is indirect through Tim Harford.  Do read my previous post — relevant for the wage stagnation debate — on how much the Internet is worth.

Lately I’ve noticed that people are confusing posts from Tyler with posts from me.  Here is a simple guide for the perplexed:

• References to a cymbalist/Dadaist/expressionist that you have never heard of.  Tyler.

• References to Dog/Rush/Hayek (Salma).  Alex

• A simple question with ten answers.  Tyler.

• A complex question with one answer.  Alex.

• You have no idea what the post means.  Tyler.

• You know exactly what the post means and it makes you mad as hell.  Alex.

1. The U.S. uses a bit more than 300 barrels of oil to produce one million Euros of gdp, Denmark uses just a bit over 100 barrels.

2. Pig blubber is an important medium for heating.

3. Energy consumption has held roughly steady for 30 years, even though gdp has doubled.

4. Non-profit cooperatives are common in the Danish energy sector.

5. Buying a new car involves a registration fee of 105% of the car’s value.

6. Electricity costs 43% more per megawatt hour than in the United States.

Those facts are from The Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2007, "How Denmark Paved Way to Energy Independence."

We are delighted to have Kevin Grier guest blogging with us this week.  Kevin is a pioneer in the political economy of macroeconomics.  Kevin’s early work on political business cycles established that politicians do attempt to manipulate the economy via the money supply.  Later, in a series of papers with Tony Caporale, Kevin showed that changes in the real interest rate can be explained via political regime shifts.  My favorite paper of Kevin’s is Congressional
Influence on
Monetary Policy: An Empirical Test (JME 91, subs. req.) which is a great example of how to combine different types of evidence to convincing effect.  But Kevin’s greatest contribution to economics?  Well, I am to modest to say and no doubt Kevin is too embarrassed.

Kevin is also an expert on low-watt tube amplifiers, check it out here.  Welcome Kevin!

According to a voluntary survey cited in the report, 48% of Caribbean adolescent girls surveyed described their own "sexual initiation" as forced.

That is from "Cost of Caribbean Crime Grows," 4 May 2007, The Wall Street Journal.  The Caribbean is now the most crime-ridden part of the world, according to the World Bank.

The combined earnings of the world’s top 25 hedge fund managers of more than $14bn (£7.49bn) exceeded the national income of Jordan last year and three individuals took home more than $1bn, according to the biggest annual industry survey.

Here is the article, which illustrates the role of powerful capital markets in promoting income inequality.  Here is an NYT piece.

What we see are the fearless super-rich having the resources and the liquidity to bid away the equity price premium, plus grab extra profits on the side.  Why should they worry about risk?  The result is improved resource allocation.  The losers are future investors, who now, if they buy, pay higher prices.  That means people like me, wealthy enough to be buying equities but not fancy enough to do anything but buy and hold.  The investment question is whether the price run-up is mostly over, or whether it has just begun to take off.

Click here for a map, via Kottke.

Here is the list, via Kottke, and here.  My favorites:

Prediction #22: Store Purchases by Tube. Pneumatic tubes, instead of store wagons, will deliver packages and bundles. These tubes will collect, deliver and transport mail over certain distances, perhaps for hundreds of miles. They will at first connect with the private houses of the wealthy; then with all homes. Great business establishments will extend them to stations, similar to our branch post-offices of today, whence fast automobile vehicles will distribute purchases from house to house.

Prediction #23: Ready-cooked meals will be bought from establishments similar to our bakeries of today. They will purchase materials in tremendous wholesale quantities and sell the cooked foods at a price much lower than the cost of individual cooking. Food will be served hot or cold to private houses in pneumatic tubes or automobile wagons.

And strawberries will be as large as apples.

I’ve had many people asking me whether Jacob Hacker’s results about "the great risk shift" hold up.  The CBO weighs in:

Since 1980, there has been little change in earnings variability for both men and women.  There is some evidence that, between 1960 and 1980, earnings variability increased for men but was offset by a decrease for women.  Those findings are consistent with most existing studies of the topic that use publicly available survey data, which tend to find higher levels of earnings variability for men in the 1980s and 1990s relative to the 1970s, but little change since around 1980.

Here is the paper.  I’ll read through it soon, and report back if my deeper impression runs in the other direction.  If you know of relevant defenses of Hacker, please do leave them in the comments.  I’d like to get to the bottom of this.

…of the 3,220 Chinese citizens with a personal wealth of
100 million yuan ($13 million) or more, 2,932 are children of high-level
cadres.  Of the key positions in the five industrial sectors–finance, foreign
trade, land development, large-scale engineering and securities–85% to 90% are
held by children of high-level cadres.

Here is the longer story, interesting for its dissection of "China scholars."

Thanks to Kent Guida for the pointer.