Interesting blog bits

1. Sam Richardson on The departure of a key tenant: Implications for Christchurch's proposed stadium

   Sam continues his thinking on the feasibility of a new covered rugby stadium for Christchurch.

2. Elena Nikolova on What explains political institutions? Evidence from colonial British America

   Why do some states develop as democracies while others remain authoritarian? The question continues to puzzle social scientists. This column presents new data from 13 British American colonies from before the American Revolution. It shows that democratic institutions had a lot to do with the need to attract workers.

3. Yves Zenou and Jackline Wahba asks Do return migrants need their social capital for entrepreneurship?

   Are return migrants more likely to become entrepreneurs than non-migrants? This column, using data from Egypt, argues that although migrants lose their social networks whilst overseas, savings and human capital accumulation acquired abroad overcompensate for this loss. This makes return migrants more likely to start businesses.

4. Bill Kaye-Blake has been having Thoughts on the rate of return on capital

   I've found myself wondering what the average rate of return on capital really is. Some of the numbers that get tossed around are an 8% average stock market return over the long term, a 15% to 20% risky rate of return for capital invested in a business, and an 8% to 10% rate of return for business generally (which is the basis for the country’s discount rate).

5. John Cochrane asks Inevitable slow recoveries?

   The economy is stuck in slow growth, not the fast growth we should see after a steep recession.

6. Eric Crampton on Coercion everywhere: welfare edition

   It's hard to draw the line between coercion and choice. Some people see coercion in normal market transactions between consenting adults where relative wealth differences are large - prostitution markets are often banned as somehow coercive; most countries would ban me from selling you one of my kidneys for fear that the money offered had coerced me. I don't see any of those as being coercive; others do.