Four years ago, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson recieved 146,715 votes in Pennsylvania. Clinton lost the state to Trump by about 44,292 votes. Some of the 49,941 votes for Jill Stein would have helped Clinton as well but one reason they eluded the Democratic nominee was that Clinton looked like a…

Treasury secretary made phone calls to bank CEOs, and these chats are proving difficult to frame as a confirmation that markets couldn’t be any healthier. “Even after recent market losses, a liquidity squeeze or fresh financial crisis hadn’t been on the market’s mind. …

In early 1980s, the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa produced more goods and services than China. By 2015, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 3.1 percent of global GDP. China accounted for 17.2 percent. …

Simon Wres-Lewis wrote a hypothetical Wikepedia entry for David Cameron. The entry is far from charitable: his government is not even able to keep the UK in the European Union, with opponents campaigning under the slogan: ‘If Scotland can do it, so can we.’ This post summarizes how some of…

I wasn’t eligible to vote when my home country, Czechoslovakia, split into two separate republics in 1993. But my age was irrelevant: the elected leaders of a young democracy promised — but never gave us — a referendum. The messy process and contradictory promises of 1992 could perhaps be partially…

Political institutions and civic participation shape how incomes are divided — so why did Piketty pay no attention to them? Good question. We can find the answer right inside Piketty’s book. In the last couple of weeks, a few articles came out claiming that Piketty’s book, Capital in the 21st…

In his lecture on unpopular, repugnant, and often illegal transactions, Al Roth raised provocative questions about markets and transactions that make us feel uncomfortable. When economists see long lines, they view them as a symptom of demand exceeding supply. The question that automatically comes to mind is: why are prices…

http://news.uchicago.edu/ Is it rational to oppose women’s participation in the labor market? Will society not benefit from a stream of new, high-quality ideas, as more people contribute to the economy? I asked Gary Becker these questions in his office about three years ago. As I sat down to explain my…

United Nations asks: ‘Would you rather be free, or well-fed?’ — http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/12636283363/ Imagine that I give you 16 attributes that your country might have. You have to choose six things from a list that includes: Freedom from violence Political freedom Nutritious food Better health care Equality between men and women Other good stuff… Do I learn anything at all about your…