47. Economics is Hard | THUNK
Channel: THUNK
Date: 01/10/2014

Economists readily admit their models can't dictate the best economic system - I wonder how so many people can?

-Links for the Curious-

Meditations on Moloch, an interesting set of thought experiments on the effects of free markets - http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

"Game Theory & Global Warming," Schecter et. al, 2008 - SACNAS National Conference, Oct. 9 -- 12, 2008

"Earnings Inequality & Mobility in the United States: Evidence from Social Security Data Since 1937," a very thorough review of data demonstrating that, while income inequality has widened significantly, there is no corresponding increase in mobility - http://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/kopczuk-saez-songQJE10mobility.pdf

"Controversies about the Rise of American Inequality: A Survey," demonstrating that the majority of income growth for the richest Americans in the last couple decades has stemmed from capital gains (not available to lower-income individuals) & self-awarded salary increases - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13982

"The Effect of Unions on Wage Inequality in the United States," Card, 2001 - http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2696012?uid=3739832&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104253679081

The asterisk indicates highly suspect speculation - please take with a grain of salt!