Americana

A New Face in Philanthropy DUNCAN CURRIE 05/13/2008

Starting in September, the Gates Foundation will have a new CEO. What sorts of challenges will he face?

Six Gas Tank Myths DUNCAN CURRIE 05/13/2008

CNNMoney.com writer Peter Valdes-Dapena looks at six popular misconceptions about how to conserve fuel.

The Human Element DUNCAN CURRIE 05/12/2008

American Enterprise Institute scholar Alex Pollock examines “the human foundations of financial risk.”

Present at the Creation DUNCAN CURRIE 05/12/2008

Business Week’s Manjeet Kripalani takes us “inside the Tata Nano factory.”

GOP Blues DUNCAN CURRIE 05/12/2008

The Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes says that Republicans have good reason to feel gloomy.

’68ers DUNCAN CURRIE 05/09/2008

Be sure to check out this excellent City Journal symposium on the meaning of 1968.

Don’t Forget About Panama DUNCAN CURRIE 05/08/2008

Whatever happened to the U.S.-Panama free trade deal?

Understanding Soccer Violence DUNCAN CURRIE 05/08/2008

A new paper by UC-Berkeley economist Edward Miguel, UC-San Diego political scientist Sebastián M. Saiegh, and NYU political scientist Shanker Satyanath offers a very interesting theory of on-field soccer violence. Here’s a snippet:

“Our main empirical measures of individual violent conduct are the number of yellow and red cards earned. According to soccer’s official rules, players who commit exceptionally violent fouls warrant a disciplinary sanction in the form of a caution (indicated by a yellow card) or a dismissal from the match (indicated by a red card). Using data from six of the world’s major soccer leagues (all in Europe), containing players from all continents and seventy countries, we obtain a striking empirical pattern: a strong correlation between the history of civil war in a player’s native country and his likelihood of earning yellow and red cards. Confirming that civil war history captures an aspect of culture related to violent acts, rather than general rule-breaking or something else entirely, there is no meaningful relationship between home country conflict and other soccer performance measures that are not closely related to violent conduct.

“This main result is robust to extensive controls for player characteristics, country income levels and continent fixed effects, where we effectively compare nearby countries (for example, African countries with different civil war histories). Beyond providing a novel real-world measure of individuals’ willingness to commit acts of violence, this finding indicates that some aspects of national culture are persistent even when individuals are far from home in a different institutional setting, here, a professional sports league.” 

The full paper can be found here (though it is hidden behind a pay firewall).

American Exceptionalism DUNCAN CURRIE 05/08/2008

How do current gas prices in the United States compare to those in European countries?

Souveraineté? Non DUNCAN CURRIE 05/08/2008

As Bloomberg News reports, Quebec’s independence movement has lost momentum, thanks in part to the efforts of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

“Quebec separatists, after coming within a percentage point of winning a vote on secession in 1995, are losing favor as demographics, economics and Harper’s overtures erode their base. Support for what is called ‘sovereignty’ in the French-speaking province was 36 percent last month, compared with almost 50 percent 13 years ago.

“‘We don’t talk about this any more,’ Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, himself born in Quebec, said in an April 23 interview in New York. ‘Some of the people on Wall Street have mentioned this to me. The whole Quebec secession issue is gone.’” 

Read the whole thing.

‘A Commitment to Sport’ DUNCAN CURRIE 05/07/2008

In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel, Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer explains why he does not have a “guilty conscience” about sponsoring the Beijing Olympics. 

“Our commitment to the Olympics is not a political commitment,” Hainer insists. “It’s not a commitment to any particular social system or cultural idea. It is a commitment to sport.”

Ballmer’s ‘Plan B’ DUNCAN CURRIE 05/07/2008

Now that the Microsoft-Yahoo merger talks have collapsed, Wall Street Journal columnist Holman Jenkins wonders whether Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has a “Plan B” for countering Google. Here’s a snippet:

“Post-Yahoo, Mr. Ballmer says his company’s counter-Google strategy remains intact; it will just be slower-going without Yahoo. But Microsoft here is perhaps showing too little imagination—or throwing up a smokescreen.

“The alternative? The bravest would be to spin off Windows. Vista, its latest output, was not a triumph, even if Microsoft claims to be content with sales of the new operating system sold so far. InfoWorld, a magazine of corporate technology managers, has collected thousands of online signatures begging Microsoft to delay retiring its previous Windows version, XP, without which they’ll be forced to upgrade and buy expensive new computers they don’t want.

“A liberated Windows unit could concentrate on developing the more streamlined and diverse operating system products the market wants (some of which could be supported by advertising), and it would still be a fabulous business for Microsoft shareholders. Meanwhile, the other Microsoft could devote itself wholeheartedly to building application businesses for the Web age, even an Office-based network for delivering ads and other services in competition with Google. With its $26 billion cash pile, Microsoft could set itself up as the host for an array of cutting-edge Web services being created by new start-ups, rather than trying to outgoogle Google in the search market.” 

Read the whole thing.

Beating Expectations DUNCAN CURRIE 05/07/2008

Over at RealClearPolitics, Jay Cost dissects Barack Obama’s performance in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.

Bittersweet Symphonies DUNCAN CURRIE 05/06/2008

Stanford economist Robert J. Flanagan analyzes the financial health of America’s symphony orchestras.

Defying the Doomsayers DUNCAN CURRIE 05/06/2008

So far, the much-predicted economic calamity of 2008 hasn’t transpired.

Fit for Driving DUNCAN CURRIE 05/06/2008

Is the Honda Fit “the car of the future”?

Feldstein on Wages and Productivity DUNCAN CURRIE 05/06/2008

In a new paper, Harvard economist Martin Feldstein dispels a widespread misperception about worker compensation. Here’s a taste:

“The level of productivity doubled in the U.S. nonfarm business sector between 1970 and 2006. Wages, or more accurately total compensation per hour, increased at approximately the same annual rate during that period if nominal compensation is adjusted for inflation in the same way as the nominal output measure that is used to calculate productivity.

“More specifically, the doubling of productivity since 1970 represented a 1.9 percent annual rate of increase. Real compensation per hour rose at 1.7 percent per year when nominal compensation is deflated using the same nonfarm business sector output price index.

“In the more recent period between 2000 and 2007, productivity rose much more rapidly (2.9 percent a year) and compensation per hour rose nearly as fast (2.5 percent a year).

“The relation between productivity and wages has been a source of substantial controversy, not only because of its inherent importance but also because of the conceptual measurement issues that arise in making the comparison.

“The relation between wages and productivity is important because it is a key determinant of the standard of living of the employed population as well as of the distribution of income between labor and capital. If wages rise at the same pace as productivity, labor’s share of national income remains essentially unchanged. This paper presents specific evidence that this has happened: the share of national income going to employees is at approximately the same level now as it was in 1970.”

The Bulgarian Model DUNCAN CURRIE 05/05/2008

The eastern European country has had success with tax reform.

The Politics of Happiness DUNCAN CURRIE 05/02/2008

American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar Arthur Brooks says that conservatives tend to be happier than liberals. In a follow-up post, he considers possible explanations for the “happiness gap.” 

You can buy Brooks’s new book, Gross National Happiness, here. It is excerpted in the forthcoming issue of THE AMERICAN.

Rethinking China’s Rise DUNCAN CURRIE 05/02/2008

Yasheng Huang, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, is challenging the conventional wisdom about China’s economy.

Sands Trap DUNCAN CURRIE 05/01/2008

“Las Vegas Sands, the hotel and casino company, has gone into the red as a U.S. economic slowdown sees punters stay away from the world’s gambling capital,” the BBC reports.

“It lost $11.2 million in the first three months of 2008, compared with a $90.9 million profit a year earlier. 

“The casino firm said it has been hit by higher construction costs, a weak U.S. economy, and tough competition in the Chinese gambling center of Macau.”

Accounting for Asset Bubbles DUNCAN CURRIE 05/01/2008

American Enterprise Institute scholar Peter Wallison explains the problem with “fair value accounting.”

Sheikh-ing Up the Competition DUNCAN CURRIE 05/01/2008

Dan Schar describes how Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, has been trying to “buy a Kentucky Derby title.”

A Rice Cartel? DUNCAN CURRIE 05/01/2008

From The New York Times:

“The prime minister of Thailand, Samak Sundaravej, said Wednesday that his government would try to create a cartel of rice-producing countries in partnership with Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.

“‘We don’t aspire to be like OPEC, but we hope to be just a group of five to help each other in trading rice on the world market,’ Mr. Samak was quoted as saying in The Nation newspaper.

“Governments in Thailand, the world’s largest rice exporter, have for many years toyed with the idea of using their dominant market position to influence the price of rice in the same way that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries tries to set crude oil prices. 

“The plan appears to be in a nascent stage. ‘I think it’s time to do it, probably within the term of this administration,’ Noppadon Pattama, Thailand’s foreign minister, said Wednesday.”

‘A High-Wage Policy’ DUNCAN CURRIE 05/01/2008

Would it be possible to make a Denmark-style wage model work in the United States? Economist Arnold Kling discusses.