Interesting blog bits

1. Scott Masten gives us An Early Example of a Hold-up. . .

   . . . in which two Irishman sweep fifteen or thirty Italians into an open ditch.

2. John Taylor on Blogging Blocked in Beijing

   Talyor could not blog while in China.

3. John Taylor on Why the Stimulus Failed to Boost Infrastructure in the US: A Comparison With China

   Stimulus in the U.S. and China. The same?

4. Gary Becker on The Economic Implications of the Japanese Earthquake Disaster and its Aftermath

   Japan has certainly been unfortunate during the past couple of decades. It has had almost twenty years of confidence-destroying slow economic growth, a series of humiliating confrontations with a rising and more aggressive China, and finally the biggest earthquake ever recorded in Japan. And this earthquake not only directly caused great damage, but it also set off a tsunami with huge destructive power. As if this were not enough, the combined earthquake-tsunami badly damaged two nuclear energy plants located on the fault lines and by the sea, damage that led to the release of as yet undetermined amounts of radiation. Still, I do not expect this disaster, despite its severity, to have major effects on the Japanese economy, but it will have a big impact on the nuclear power industry, and may help different countries better prepare for very rare but destructive natural events.

5. Lucian Cernat and Marlene Rosemarie Madsen write about "Murky protectionism" and behind-the-border barriers: How big an issue? The €100 billion question
   

   Compared to recent headline-grabbing events, dealing with “behind-the-border barriers” and keeping protectionist tendencies at bay might seem to be small potatoes. This column argues that the “murky protectionism” that affects €100 billion of trade will have profound implications for Europe and the rest of the world, and as such is worthy of attention.

6. Ann Harrison, Leslie Martin and Shanthi Nataraj on Learning vs stealing: How important are market-share reallocations to India's productivity growth?

   It is broadly agreed that trade liberalisation can increase productivity. The question is how. Earlier literature emphasises the role of firms “learning” to be more productive, whereas recent studies suggest that more productive firms are “stealing” market share from less productive ones, thus raising overall productivity. Presenting evidence from India’s trade liberalisation since 1991, this column finds evidence for both but argues that learning outweighs stealing.

7. Don Boudreaux writes Another Open Letter to Sen. Sherrod Brown

   The economist versus the politician on trade. A debate that never happened: "John Stossel and his team at Fox Business tried to get Sen. Brown to publicly debate trade with me. Brown refused, alleging that I'm an unworthy opponent."

8. Gavin Kennedy answers Interesting Question on the Authenticity of Smith's Lectures on Jurisprudence

   Did Adam Smith really deliver his Lectures on Jurisprudence?

9. Lynne Kiesling on The ATT/T-Mobile merger and spectrum policy

   The benefits of the cost savings from the merger may well exceed the reduction in consumer surplus from any price increase arising from going from 4 national competitors to 3.