Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
Congress was warned well ahead of time about how the lack of regulation and transparency would lead to a great crash when many big institutions were all making the same bets and making the same assumptions. Congress didn’t listen. They listened to the Ayn Rand follower Alan Greenspan instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ25uZtey34
Some economists act like different factors of the economy are interchangeable when really they are complements.
The blocking of the Strait limited the supply of multiple inputs, and it will take time to get logistics and production back to normal. The downstream economic impacts of the blockade are not over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkxIhUk2Sig
Politicians used to talk more about saving or fixing social security. It is closer to running out now, and politicians irresponsibly ignore it!
Someone’s willingness to pay isn’t just a function of how much they want the product or service, but also their ability to pay. So, when you have limited seats available for a sports game or concert, the people who go are not simply those who love the sport or the artist the most, but those who can better afford expensive tickets. This can result in rich people who don’t even care that much, having the best seats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJPlYopcxmc
Overall, the scientific evidence finds that Medicaid does improve health. There was a literature that found this, then the Oregon study found that it didn’t! But then with the ACA, some people were randomly sent a reminder to sign up for Medicaid, and those that got the letter, signed up more, and they had better health outcomes. The Oregon study followed people for too short of time and the sample was too small.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp8JNHPP7MA&list=PLUl4u3cNGP62KS2YhlASvGBxxL8HgB11p&index=14
Finance guys made money while making Chipotle a worse restaurant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vibT_eZdD4
Unfortunately, the good jobs number isn’t as good as it seems. Inflation rose more than wages; many of the jobs are low-paying temporary jobs from the World Cup; and many jobs were young people taking care of old people, which while important ethically, don’t increase the productivity of the economy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaIIr7y3LN4
At the lower range of the wage scale, businesses have so much leverage over workers that they can suppress wages under competitive market rates. Because of this, an appropriately priced minimum wage doesn’t hurt employment, and actually increases it because more people are willing to work for that higher wage and they are less likely to quit.
The increase in wages results in higher prices and lower profits. The higher prices do not cancel out the wage growth with inflation because only a minority of the cost of all the goods and services people buy are from people who make near the minimum wage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQKDTbLO0fM
The workplaces that have grown recently, are ones that tend to employ more women. And, the workplaces that have shrunk, are ones that tend to employ more men.
The big growth happened in private education and health services.
The world has changed. There are fewer traditionally masculine jobs. The culture and politicians glorify these obsolete jobs. This creates a mismatch that leads to bad policy.
Modern farms and factories employ more machines than people. As we get richer, we tend to want more services than hard things.
If we want job growth for men, men will have to do the jobs that are growing. Which they can, but we need to not label these jobs as jobs for women.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOTzqPEk7oI
McDonald’s is a real estate and big data tech company. It is selling convenience, not cheap food or good food. Its goal is to manipulate the customer to come in and buy profitable items.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIOW2HKgzPk
Externalities in Theory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmpZwTUbjjI&list=PLUl4u3cNGP62KS2YhlASvGBxxL8HgB11p&index=3