Mike Munger interview about the sharing economy

From Free Thoughts comes this audio of an interview with Mike Munger about Tomorrow 3.0: Uberizing The Economy.

Mike Munger joins Aaron Owell and Trevor Burrus to discuss his new book Tomorrow 3.0: Transaction Costs and the Sharing Economy. They discuss the future of the sharing economy, the role of the middle man, and the fundamental economic concept of transaction costsc.

Firm boundaries and delegation

Interesting new NBER working paper on the relationship between the boundaries of the firm and delegation within the firm.

Come Together: Firm Boundaries and Delegation
Laura Alfaro, Nicholas Bloom, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger, Patrick Legros, Andrew Newman, Raffaella Sadun, John Van Reenen
NBER Working Paper No. 24603

Little is known theoretically, and even less empirically, about the relationship between firm boundaries and the allocation of decision rights within firms. We develop a model in which firms choose which suppliers to integrate and whether to delegate decisions to integrated suppliers. We test the predictions of the model using a novel dataset that combines measures of vertical integration and delegation for a large set of firms from many countries and industries. In line with the model's predictions, we obtain three main results: (i) integration and delegation co-vary positively; (ii) producers are more likely to integrate suppliers in input sectors with greater productivity variation (as the option value of integration is greater); and (iii) producers are more likely to integrate suppliers of more important inputs and to delegate decisions to them.

The world really has gone mad!!

Where is Richard Dawkins when you need him?!!

"Darwin's Plagiarisms: The Greatest Fraud in History: Introduction to the Inheritance Model of Creation and the New Evolution Theory"

DEIRDRE ROSE, The Ministry of Second Timothy, Inc.

This is a comparative study which evaluates two theories: The theory of evolution and the theory of creation. The purpose of the study is to facilitate the development of a new branch of science. The status of these two theories are as such: evolution is treated as fact, and creation is not considered science. This paper turns everything on its head. Evolution and creation are handled in a completely new and different way. The human life cycle is redefined, and the order of life processes rearranged. Evolution is now defined as the end of the biological process, not the beginning; and there is a place for creation in this new model using a conceptual metaphor taken from a software engineering paradigm known as object-oriented design. In the process of comparing these two theories, the author unveils the greatest fraud in history -- great because it has gone undetected for two centuries and is still being perpetuated today.

I wonder what biology journal will publish this?

George Schultz interview

From the Jamie Weinstein Show comes this interview with economist and former Secretary of State George P. Schultz.

Episode 58: George P. Schultz

In the latest episode of The Jamie Weinstein Show, from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the 97-year-old former Secretary of State George Schultz opens up on the prospects for peace on the Korean Peninsula, what made President Ronald Reagan a great leader, his career, and much more.

46 copies sold last year.

Today I received a note from my publisher telling me that The Theory of the Firm: An overview of the economic mainstream sold a total of 33 hardback copies and 13 e-book copies in 2017.

Not yet a millionaire, but we are getting there.

Many thanks to the 46 of you out there.

As for the rest of you ...... shame! Shame!!

"A Brief Prehistory of the Theory of the Firm" has been published .......

I think!

I say "I think" because its not like my publisher bothered to tell me the book has been published or anything, but because I just noticed that on their website they are giving May 8, 2018, as the publication date.

So I want you all to start buying!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again,  its a great book, well worth buying for wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, mistresses, mothers-in-law, toy-boys, family, friends, pets, total strangers you meet in the street or any combinations of the above. Its great for Christmas, holiday reading, birthdays, Mother's day, Father's day, any day.

Honestly, I don't really care why you buy it, what's important is that you do buy it, preferably multiple copies, often!

You can buy here, here, here, here and here.

"The Value of Rationally Reconstructing Buchanan's Work" with Richard Wagner

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Jayme Lemke interviews Richard Wagner on James Buchanan's life and legacy, his experience studying with James Buchanan, and future directions in Virginia political economy.

Cover design for "A brief prehistory of the theory of the firm"

With a bit of luck it will be out in June, the Routledge webpage is now saying 15 May, but it can be pre-ordered from the publisher right now. Also available for pre-order here and here.

Thomas Sowell on his new book "Discrimination and Disparities"

Peter Robinson at Uncommon Knowledge of the Hoover Institution interviews Thomas Sowell about his new book Discrimination and Disparities.

Rich or poor, most people agree that wealth disparities exist. Thomas Sowell discusses the origins and impacts of those wealth disparities in his new book, Discrimination and Disparities in this episode of Uncommon Knowledge.

Sowell explains his issues with the relatively new legal standard of “disparate impact” and how it disregards the American legal principle of “burden of proof.” Sowell and Robinson discuss how economic outcomes vary greatly across individuals and groups and that concepts like “disparate impact” fail to take into account these variations.

They chat about the impact of nuclear families on the IQs of individuals, as studies have not only shown that children raised by two parents tend to have higher levels of intelligence but also that first-born and single children have even higher intelligence levels than those of younger siblings, indicating that the time and attention given by parents to their children greatly impacts the child’s future more than factors like race, environment, or genetics. Sowell talks about his book in which he wrote extensively about National Merit Scholarship finalists who more often than not were the first-born or only child in a family.

Sowell and Robinson go on to discuss historical instances of discrimination and how those instances affected economic and social issues within families, including discrimination created by housing laws in the Bay Area. They discuss unemployment rates, violence, the welfare state in regards to African American communities, and more.

Adam Smith's discovery of trade gravity

From the latest (Vol. 32 No. 2 Spring 2018) issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Retrospectives: Adam Smith's Discovery of Trade Gravity
Bruce Elmslie

The gravity equation is a current workhorse of empirical trade theory. It is generally acknowledged that this theory, which relates the extent of trade between countries to their respective sizes, distances, and relative trade barriers, was first developed by Jan Tinbergen in 1962. Acceptance of the gravity model as part of the discipline's core was limited by its scant theoretical foundation for the first 40 years of its existence. This paper finds that a theory of trade gravity was first developed by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations. Moreover, it is shown that Smith's statement of a proportional relation between economic size and distance came about as an application of his general theory of differential capital productivity in different economic sectors, and his elaboration of a theory of the gains from trade originated by David Hume. It is further shown that Smith had an explanation of the size of border affects in trade volumes, and a gravity theory of trade restrictions.

Something else for which Smith was ahead of his time.