Patrick Coate
-
•
Space, the Final Frontier of Economics
Anyone doing their shopping in a big-box retail store this year has probably noticed that “Star Wars” is big business. But space can also provide an outlet for economists to practice their economic intuition in a playful way.
-
•
Budget Airlines Are Driving Competition For Everyone
United Airlines made headlines recently with its announced introduction of Basic Economy pricing – and mostly not in a good way. Most of the coverage has focused on the fact that this plan no longer includes complimentary carry-on baggage or choice of seating, with the baggage fee recently drawing the ire of Senator Chuck Schumer. …
-
•
Trump, and the Free-Trade Tradeoff
The biggest news story in the world this past week has been the election of Donald Trump, and the biggest reason for his election was the vote of working class white voters in the Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, states that had been projected to vote for Hillary Clinton. One current explanation…
-
•
Presidential Elections: There’s a Theorem For That
One classic insight is Arrow’s impossibility theorem, originally published in a 1950 paper by Nobel Prize winning economist Kenneth Arrow. It shows that there is no way to ensure any voting system, will always simultaneously satisfy a list of seemingly desirable conditions. More generally, it makes the same point about the impossibility of aggregating individual…
-
•
Income Inequality: Where Denmark Falls Short
Denmark appears to promote mobility by effectively educating disadvantaged youth, but the United States has stronger incentives for continued education.
-
•
Why Many Don’t Settle Down Where They Went to College
Attending a distant college is not exactly meant to be a permanent move like other migration. Those who do so are exactly the type of people who tend to be more open to distant job opportunities.
-
•
Space, the Final Frontier of Economics
Anyone doing their shopping in a big-box retail store this year has probably noticed that “Star Wars” is big business. But space can also provide an outlet for economists to practice their economic intuition in a playful way.
-
•
Budget Airlines Are Driving Competition For Everyone
United Airlines made headlines recently with its announced introduction of Basic Economy pricing – and mostly not in a good way. Most of the coverage has focused on the fact that this plan no longer includes complimentary carry-on baggage or choice of seating, with the baggage fee recently drawing the ire of Senator Chuck Schumer. …
-
•
Trump, and the Free-Trade Tradeoff
The biggest news story in the world this past week has been the election of Donald Trump, and the biggest reason for his election was the vote of working class white voters in the Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, states that had been projected to vote for Hillary Clinton. One current explanation…
-
•
Presidential Elections: There’s a Theorem For That
One classic insight is Arrow’s impossibility theorem, originally published in a 1950 paper by Nobel Prize winning economist Kenneth Arrow. It shows that there is no way to ensure any voting system, will always simultaneously satisfy a list of seemingly desirable conditions. More generally, it makes the same point about the impossibility of aggregating individual…
-
•
Income Inequality: Where Denmark Falls Short
Denmark appears to promote mobility by effectively educating disadvantaged youth, but the United States has stronger incentives for continued education.
-
•
Why Many Don’t Settle Down Where They Went to College
Attending a distant college is not exactly meant to be a permanent move like other migration. Those who do so are exactly the type of people who tend to be more open to distant job opportunities.