American Economist articles from March 1999

American Economist archives from March 1999

To push and be pushed.(economist Kurt W. Rothschild on his life philosophy)
March 22, 1999... In his collection of Life Philosophies of Eminent Economists Michael Szenberg (1993) quotes a passage from Karl Popper which opens with the following sentence: "We all have our philosophies, whether or not we are aware of this fact, and our...

My life and economics.(economist Ronald G. Ehrenberg)
March 22, 1999... I. Introduction Age 51 is a bit early to be writing a retrospective about one's career as an economist and one's life. This is especially true for me since I am not on track to win a Nobel Prize, to be admitted to the National Academy of...

The new political macroeconomics: an interview with Alberto Alesina.(professor of economics, Harvard University)(Interview)
March 22, 1999... 1. Introduction The relationship between the economy and the political system has always attracted the interest of economists. During the past decade research into the various forms of interaction between politics and macroeconomics has...

The decline of rental completions in the U.S. housing market: 1970-1994.
March 22, 1999... 1. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to build a model and to develop some null hypotheses to explain the performance of the U.S. rental housing market during the 1970-1994 period. A recent HUD report entitled America's Renters...

A puzzle resolved: Japan's high currency value and trade surplus.
March 22, 1999... I. Introduction The exchange rate between the dollar and the yen has been a much discussed topic ever since the great appreciation of the yen, which started in 1985 after the Plaza Announcement, accompanied by a large trade surplus for...

Coping with a paradoxical theorem in macroeconomics, report on a survey.
March 22, 1999... There is a conceptual problem in open economy macroeconomics which manifests itself in many practical ways and with which, I propose to argue based upon some evidence I have gathered, the profession is unable to cope. In this paper I...

The union effect on the earnings distribution in higher education in Ohio.
March 22, 1999... Empirical work by economists has led to the general conclusion that unionization tends to compress the earnings distribution of workers across and within firms; this impact is often translated into an equalizing effect on earnings. However,...

Monetary announcement and commodity price dynamics: a portfolio balance model.
March 22, 1999... I. Introduction Over the last two decades, there have appeared a number of studies concerning the dynamic adjustment of commodity prices from both theoretical and empirical viewpoints.' Among the literature, Van Duyne (1979) presents a...

The flute factory: an empirical measurement of the effect of the division of labor on productivity and production cost.
March 22, 1999... The positive effect of the division of labor on output and production cost is one of the most fundamental assumptions in economics. The foundation on which this assumption is built rests heavily upon Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776)...

Tariffs, import quotas, voluntary export restraints and immiserizing growth.
March 22, 1999... The differences among tariffs, import quotas and voluntary restraints in their economic effects have been discussed extensively in the literature (1, 3, 5). The purpose of this paper is to show another difference among them. It will be shown...

Regulatory economics: survey of reading materials in universities in Canada and the United States.
March 22, 1999... The survey is undertaken in response to feedback received from readers on earlier surveys conducted by the author in different areas of economics. The present survey of regulatory economics intends to enhance the quality of teaching and will...

Authoring Books and Materials for Students, Academics and Professionals.(Review)
March 22, 1999... By Franklin H. Silverman. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 1998. Pp. x., 161. $17.95. ISBN 0-275-96159-1 Many individuals have given thought to the idea of serving as author of a text or other professional book. Professor Franklin...

The Computer Revolution: An Economic Perspective.(Review)
March 22, 1999... By Daniel E. Sichel. Brookings, 1997. 152p ISBN 0-8157-7896-1 Most of us have had a desktop computer for years and many of us can be heard commenting on these machines saying "I don't know how I could do my work without it" or "it makes me...