Long-time readers know that the way to tell if a financier is lying about stock buybacks is to check if their mouth is moving. But since buybacks are back in the news, meaning lies about buybacks are back in the news, I thought I'd offer a quick refresher. If buybacks and dividends are identical, why do buybacks at all? The lie about buybacks always starts the same way: … [Read more...] about Reminder: the buyback debate is about taxes, not corporate finance
Book Review: “Stubborn Attachments,” Growth, and Welfare
One of my favorite libertarian economists is the director of the Koch-financed Mercatus Center, and Bloomberg columnist, Tyler Cowen. He's a truly inspired troll in the model of an Ayn Rand or a Milton Friedman, constantly asking important questions like "what if the things you think are good are actually bad?" and "what if the things you think are bad are actually … [Read more...] about Book Review: “Stubborn Attachments,” Growth, and Welfare
Means-testing and Appalachian roots
In October, 2017, the Washington Post published a very strange series of articles about the recipients of disability benefits in the United States. The entire series is worth reading for various reasons, but I want to direct your attention to one particular entry: After the check is gone. The principal character in the article, Donna Jean Dempsey, collects aluminum cans … [Read more...] about Means-testing and Appalachian roots
Learning to love Baumol’s cost disease
Baumol's cost disease is one of the simplest ideas in economic theory, but I experience it as a kind of brain worm: once you know about it, you see evidence of it virtually everywhere. You can read the Wikipedia page as well as I can, but this is how I think about Baumol's cost disease: If productivity is increasing economy-wide, labor costs have to rise in sectors where … [Read more...] about Learning to love Baumol’s cost disease
Quick hit: use Kanopy to stream films for free
I just found out about this service and thought I'd pass it along in case readers weren't aware of it. Kanopy lets you stream 6 movies per calendar month for free Setting up an account is straightforward: Navigate to https://www.kanopy.com/ and click "Watch Now" Search for your local public or university library Create an account and connect your library … [Read more...] about Quick hit: use Kanopy to stream films for free