Interesting blog bits

1. Eric Crampton on Youth unemployment and evidence-based policy

   I'm probably the only one on my block who runs around the house shouting "The new Household Labour Force Survey is here! The new Household Labour Force Survey is here!". The neighbours likely already think I'm a jerk anyway.

2. Elizabeth Lesly Stevens on The Small-Time Landlord vs. Big-Time Tenants’ Rights

   San Francisco's strong renter protections are a big reason why the city has the region's highest vacancy rate

3. Peter Drysdale on Why Doha Round matters to Asia and the Pacific

   Discussions on breaking the impasse between the US and China are continuing following last month’s landmark meeting of WTO members. This column – written by the intellectual father of APEC – argues that allowing Doha to languish for years is deeply dangerous. Part of an eBook posted in April, the column asserts that failure to conclude Doha this year would put a dagger at the heart of the multilateral system. With the rise of China, the decline of US trade leadership, turmoil in the Middle East, and a damaged and imbalanced global economy, the world needs multilateralism more than ever.

4. Raihan Zamil notes The illusion of bank capital

   How much capital should banks hold to cover their risk? This column argues that the preoccupation with capital rules misses a more fundamental concern. No amount of feasible regulatory capital can be an appropriate substitute for robust asset selection and valuation standards of banks.

5. Tim Worstall on Inequality is rising: so?

   It's most certainly true that inequality is rising within the economically advanced countries. The question is, does this matter?

6. John Taylor on How to Avoid the New Bailout Authority

   Title II of the Dodd-Frank bill, which creates a new orderly liquidation authority for financial institutions, has recently come under fierce attacks from a variety of perspectives. Missing from the recent debate is the role of a possible amendment to the bankruptcy code to deal with large financial firms.

7. Gary Becker asks Can Poor Countries Afford Democracy?

   “Poor countries cannot afford democracy” is a common refrain suggesting that poor countries need strong and authoritarian leaders to overcome the various forces that kept them poor for centuries. In apparent support for this claim is the fact that the great majority of rich countries are mainly democratic. Yet, while the effects of democracy on economic performance are controversial, democracies can have some economic advantages for poor as well as rich countries.

8. Mark Perry Amazing U.S. Manufacturing Productivity Gains

   Perry charts the story of rising worker productivity in America’s manufacturing sector.