American Economist articles from September 2007

American Economist archives from September 2007

Ten ways to know Paul A. Samuelson.(Column)
September 22, 2007... I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a prettier shell or a smoother pebble than ordinary whilst the great ocean of...

The rate of time preference in the United States government.(Column)
September 22, 2007... I discuss in this paper the rising rate of time preference exhibited by the United States government in the late 20th and early 21st century. Paul Samuelson stressed the importance of the rate of interest over 40 years ago. I was a graduate...

Samuelson pro and con.(Column)
September 22, 2007... Fifty three years ago I would not have expected to be able to meet and talk with two presidents--Jimmy Carter and George Bush, in 2002; neither would I have expected to be asked to write for Paul Samuelson's 90th. But August 2005 was the 53rd...

Generalists' Generalisimo.
September 22, 2007... Quite evidently, Paul Samuelson is the member of our profession who is most deserving of praise but least in need of it. This note, however, is not intended as a generalized panegyric, but rather is particularized by focusing on the generally...

A 'giant of record'.(Column)
September 22, 2007... 1. Introduction--The Qualities of a Top Economics Department Just as cats can look at kings, I can try to evaluate Paul Samuelson's achievements over a 90-year lifetime. My own connection to Samuelson begins with my selection of...

Reminiscences of our "sacred decade of twenties".
September 22, 2007... 1. Paul Samuelson is the still active, oldest and most intimate friend of mine in the United States for the past seventy years. Paul came to the Harvard graduate school in economics in 1935 from Chicago and I joined the same class after...

Paul Samuelson on his 90th birthday.
September 22, 2007... Nothing could give me more pleasure than this opportunity for a comment on Paul Samuelson. Let there be no doubt, no one in his time has contributed more to the world of economics. His distinction is now fully established and rightly deserved....

Paul Samuelson and the dual Pasinetti theory.
September 22, 2007... Introduction In this paper, we examine Paul Samuelson's contribution to a very specific brand of post-Keynesian economics. One major aspect of post-Keynesian economics is to delineate mechanisms whereby monetary and fiscal policies affect...

Human subjects requirements and economic education researchers.(Institutional Review Board)
September 22, 2007... I. Introduction All academic institutions that receive funding from the United States federal government are required to enforce regulations that govern the use of human subjects by their researchers. When a study meets the government's...

Foreign-born teaching assistants and student achievement: an ordered probit analysis.
September 22, 2007... I. Introduction Public debates about the impact of the foreign-born on various aspects of the life of native Americans has intensified in recent years because of increases in the number of foreign-born persons in the U.S. as well as...

Does drinking affect grades more for women? Gender differences in the effects of heavy episodic drinking in college.
September 22, 2007... I. Introduction Are male and female brains affected differently by alcohol use? Do these possible differences result in any meaningful differences in academic performance in college? Men and women certainly behave very differently with...

On the political economy of binational counter-terrorism.
September 22, 2007... I. Introduction This essay applies some of the simplest techniques of game theory to explore the economic incentives facing foreign nations sheltering terrorists, and the predictable responses of those nations in a mixed-motive non-zero...

What is (not) money? Medium of exchange [not equal to] means of payment.
September 22, 2007... 1. Introduction What is money? In economics, it is unanimously defined as the medium of exchange. But its interpretation varies from author to author. Some authors refer to medium of exchange as "anything that is generally accepted as...

How Society Makes Itself: The Evolution of Political and Economic Institutions.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... How Society Makes Itself: The Evolution of Political and Economic Institutions, By Howard J. Sherman. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. 2005. How and why do social institutions change? This is the organizing question addressed by Howard J. Sherman...