Joakim Book
Research Fellow
-
•
The Fed and the Mad Urge to Do Something
Panicked markets, eye-popping declines, and inept public policy are, in some unfortunate sense, a human universal. And all public officials, it seems, imitate one another, no matter how mad, impotent, or harmful the policy.
-
•
The Insoluble Perils of Prediction
Statistically, there are usually only a handful of ways that a prediction can come true – but a myriad, even infinite, ways that it can go wrong. We should almost never expect a particular prediction to hold true.
-
•
The Economics of Thinking One Step Further
The world is dynamic, not static; it is equilibrating and adjusting, not mechanical. The economic way of thinking teaches us that.
-
•
Of Course Capitalism Can Save Nature
Various schemes have turned rhinos and other scenic African animals from victims of the tragedy of the commons to valuable commodities that hunters and farmers and former poachers sustain, in no small part thanks to ecotourism.
-
•
Are All Cryptocurrencies Pyramid Schemes?
All moneys and valuable items are pyramid schemes, and all holders of money and valuable items hope that the next person in line will pay more for them. That’s how monetary balances work. No big deal.
-
•
The Implausible Claims of Green High Finance
It is highly doubtful that having a central bank selectively buy outstanding debt with green labels would in any meaningful way contribute to a greening of the economy.
-
•
Search Engines are Better Than Hogwarts
We live better lives today than the aristocracy and the richest of our forefathers did in the past. But in some ways, we also live better lives than the wizards and witches of J. K. Rowlings’ wonderful world.
-
•
All Hail Statistics!
Yes, statistics can deceive — think Mark Twain’s apocryphal claim about lies and damned lies — but statistics can also give nuance to our worldviews.
-
•
Greetings from the Bitcoin Mansions
Bitcoin’s monetary dreamworld does look rather fanciful and full of strange beliefs: a land of fairies, castles and – I imagine – princesses, a land, writes Jemina Kelly at Financial Times, “where bunk and baloney thrive.”
-
•
The Economics of Price and Quantity Signals
The first time I thought about the relationship between quantity and price, I was a teenager working at the same job that taught me about transaction costs in labor markets. Evidently, there was much for me to learn at this rather dull junior sales job for a shipping company. Being paid according to a fairly…
-
•
The Fed and the Mad Urge to Do Something
Panicked markets, eye-popping declines, and inept public policy are, in some unfortunate sense, a human universal. And all public officials, it seems, imitate one another, no matter how mad, impotent, or harmful the policy.
-
•
The Insoluble Perils of Prediction
Statistically, there are usually only a handful of ways that a prediction can come true – but a myriad, even infinite, ways that it can go wrong. We should almost never expect a particular prediction to hold true.
-
•
The Economics of Thinking One Step Further
The world is dynamic, not static; it is equilibrating and adjusting, not mechanical. The economic way of thinking teaches us that.
-
•
Of Course Capitalism Can Save Nature
Various schemes have turned rhinos and other scenic African animals from victims of the tragedy of the commons to valuable commodities that hunters and farmers and former poachers sustain, in no small part thanks to ecotourism.
-
•
Are All Cryptocurrencies Pyramid Schemes?
All moneys and valuable items are pyramid schemes, and all holders of money and valuable items hope that the next person in line will pay more for them. That’s how monetary balances work. No big deal.
-
•
The Implausible Claims of Green High Finance
It is highly doubtful that having a central bank selectively buy outstanding debt with green labels would in any meaningful way contribute to a greening of the economy.
-
•
Search Engines are Better Than Hogwarts
We live better lives today than the aristocracy and the richest of our forefathers did in the past. But in some ways, we also live better lives than the wizards and witches of J. K. Rowlings’ wonderful world.
-
•
All Hail Statistics!
Yes, statistics can deceive — think Mark Twain’s apocryphal claim about lies and damned lies — but statistics can also give nuance to our worldviews.
-
•
Greetings from the Bitcoin Mansions
Bitcoin’s monetary dreamworld does look rather fanciful and full of strange beliefs: a land of fairies, castles and – I imagine – princesses, a land, writes Jemina Kelly at Financial Times, “where bunk and baloney thrive.”
-
•
The Economics of Price and Quantity Signals
The first time I thought about the relationship between quantity and price, I was a teenager working at the same job that taught me about transaction costs in labor markets. Evidently, there was much for me to learn at this rather dull junior sales job for a shipping company. Being paid according to a fairly…