Re: Katrina and the Evacuation of the Poor and Infirm: Market Failure?
To challenge the premise from a different angle: "market failure," as I understand the term, typically means something the market cannot provide for *anyone* at *any* price. A common example is moral hazard in insurance: insurance reduces the incentive of the insured to avoid risks. The insurance agency can construct signals to reduce that risk-courting behavior, but they can't completely restore it to pre-insured levels. To say that "the market failed the poor" isn't exactly a market failure, then. The market obviously did NOT fail the middle-class and well-off. So the market hasn't failed. In fact, it seems to be doing what it always does - providing for those who can pay. (This is, of course, entirely incidental to the truth of the matter, which is that the National Guard and FEMA have mismanaged this crisis abhorrently from the get-go and that companies like Wal-Mart and NGOs like the Red Cross are responding far more quickly. But when the premise of the question is mistaken from the get-go, it might be better to examine that first) -JP --- Michael Giesbrecht <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The government (local, State, and Federal) > appropriated responsibility > for the Mississippi River levy system, the drainage > systems, the pumping > systems, the road ways, and the bridges, but > apparently, they left it to > the market to provide the service of evacuating the > poor and the infirm. > Since they poor and infirm were not, to any great > extent, evacuated, is > this an example of market failure? > > > > > > Best regards, > Michael Giesbrecht > > __ Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/
Re: Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
What do they call hairstylists who practice without a license? "Barber-y" Corsairs! Ha! Comedy gold, people. ... that's all I can add to the story, sorry. -John P."Robert A. Book" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Check out this website. It's a real time warp. And yes, Virginia does> license barbers!>> http://www.state.va.us/dpor/indexne.htmlDon't most states license barbers?Also, why is this a time warp? Don't most states (still) licence lotsof professions, even if economics tells us they shouldn't?--Robert Do you Yahoo!?Yahoo! Movies - Buy advance tickets for 'Shrek 2'
Re: Oscar Political Business Cycle
I would suggest it's a self-enforcing cycle. In the past, the Academy has tended to award its Best Picture / Best Director cherries to movies released closer to its decision-making time. The studios, seeking Oscars to add to their prestige, notice this, and release more of what they consider their "prestige pictures" around the end of the year. The Academy awards more of these pictures with Oscars, and the trend continues. -JP --- Bryan Caplan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The Political Business Cycle story has not fared > well empirically in recent years (though Kevin Grier > has done interesting work on Mexico's PBC). But it > seems overwhelming in the Oscars. It seems like > roughly half of the big nominees get released in > December. What gives? Is there any way to explain > this other than Academy voters' amnesia? > > I guess there is a small intertemporal benefit - if > you could win Best Picture of 2004 with a January > 2004 release, or Best Picture of 2003 with a > December 2003 release, the present value of the > latter prize would presumably be higher. But can > that one year's interest (presumably adjusted for a > lower probability of winning due to tighter > deadlines) explain the December lump? __ Do you Yahoo!? Find out what made the Top Yahoo! Searches of 2003 http://search.yahoo.com/top2003
Re: Real wages constant since 1964?!
As the listmember who probably has the dampest ink on his econ B.A., I can verify that that's what's being taught in our universities. -JP[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 12/4/03 3:07:31 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:>I think you are remembering your undergraduate education incorrectly (it>has been a while Bryan). Some goods don't get any quality adjustment. It>is possible that that is what you are remembering. There are cases where>there are quality changes and no adjustment, but every index is, and always>has been (as far as I know), adjusted to some extent to allow for quality>changes. - - BillNope. I learned the same thing, albeit some years earlier, in myundergraduate education, that the CPI-u doesn't adjust for changes in quality or in themarket basket.Davi Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now
