Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575282190930932412.html?KEYWORDS=daniel+klein

Ten Principles of Economics

Greg Mankiw, Harvard professor, noted author and macroeconomist, and former chief economic advisor to the president, introduces his students to economics through the following 10 principles. These principles are the foundation for everything taught in his introductory courses. They are divided into three different categories: how people make decisions, how people interact, and how the economy as a whole works. We will use these also as the foundation of our course.

How People Make Decisions

Principle #1: People Face Trade-offs
Principle #2: The Cost of Something Is What You Give Up to Get It
Principle #3: Rational People Think at the Margin
Principle #4: People Respond to Incentives

How People Interact

Principle #5: Trade Can Make Everyone Better Off
Principle #6: Markets Are Usually a Good Way to Organize Economic Activity
Principle #7: Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes


How the Economy as a Whole Works

Principle #8: A Country’s Standard of Living Depends on Its Ability to Produce Goods and Services
Principle #9: Prices Rise When the Government Prints Too Much Money
Principle #10: Society Faces a Short-Run Trade-off between Inflation and Unemployment

Two views on Immigration

Here are a couple of articles worth reading on immigration.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/18/immigration-illegal-economics-opinions-contributors-art-carden.html

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/06/obama-immigration-reform-politics-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html

Immigration Reform?

Here is an interesting look at the issue of immigration reform.

http://reason.com/assets/db/07cf533ddb1d06350cf1ddb5942ef5ad.jpg

Obamacare Writedowns

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704100604575146002445136066.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304370304575151760348759360.html

Here are two articles from this week's Wall Street Journal on company "writedowns" as a result of the new healthcare act.

Dilbert on Leadership

Have you heard this line before?

Arthur Laffer on Healthcare

Here is the article from noted economist Arthur Laffer. This was a very thorough study of healthcare proposals that were under consideration as they were constituted last August.
http://www.lafferhealthcarereport.org/report