Sound Economics

The chill in the air, orange leaves, and Tacoma rain that now graces UPS signal that October, and thus spooky season is in full force. As the nation gears up for football season, the World Series, and pumpkin flavoring, children young and old prepare for Halloween, the holiday of holidays. Although the winter holidays more often elicit ideas of consumerism, Halloween still generates a relatively large surge in household consumption. According to The Balance, last year’s Halloween sales hit $9 billion, just shy of 2017’s $9.1 billion. The Balance sites the National Retail Federation’s annual survey, which found that people Continue reading The Economics of Halloween→

A dualistic view of the world has rapidly gained popularity in recent years. On one side stands the liberal order: advocating of free markets, the consent of the governed, human rights, and representative democracy. On the other: an aberrant authoritarian populism. This emergent axis flirts with ethno-nationalism, expands executive power beyond its bounds, expresses intense skepticism toward globalization, and demonstrates disregard, if not contempt, for civil liberties and the rule of law. This authoritarian creep threatens the tremendous gains that the dominant order has made since the Second World War and may even seek to revive its more abhorrent ideologies. Continue reading Illiberalism or Hyperliberalism? Market Authoritarianism in Context→

The purpose of Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs is to protect  domestic suppliers and firms as well as to encourage steel/aluminum production in the United States . Tariffs, in general, are a tax on imports to increase the price which results in a larger producer surplus, revenue collected on account of the tariff, and deadweight loss. Overall, tariffs create market inefficiency and hurt the wellbeing of an economy because of it. Of course, there are many more factors to think about. The market for steel and aluminum affects much more than just those involved in the production. It affects all Continue reading Tariffs: Expectations vs. Reality→

The yield curve (showing investment rates over time) is an indicator of an economy’s health. When the curve is sloping up, the economy is expanding and overall doing well. It is when the curve starts to level out that it becomes worrisome as this generally means that an economic slowdown – or recession – is on the rise. Looking at the curve’s latest data from the U.S Department of the Treasury, we are bound to see a slowdown very soon. Slowdown or Recession?: “The United States does not define a recession as two consecutive quarters of shrinking output” however that Continue reading Yield Curve and Politics 101→

The threat of climate change is growing at alarming rates and one player in particular is not helping: airlines. Air travel is one of the most efficient means of travel, but what is it really costing us? Even though air travel is a form of shared transportation (something we tend to think of as having positive externalities associated with lowering our carbon footprint), it is actually making us worse off. Right now, air travel accounts for 2.5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, but in thirty-one years, it could take up to a quarter of the world’s carbon budget. In Continue reading Air Travel is Costing Us→

Thank you to all of the writers of Sound Economics for contributing a year’s worth of compelling and original articles. I’ve recently learned that Sound Economics was named one of the Top 100 Economics Blogs of 2019 by Prateek Agarwal of The Intelligent Economist. Congratulations writers!  

For my blog post, I had the privilege of interviewing fellow graduating senior Jack Gries about his Economics Thesis. Look below for more information about his work! I would like to thank Jack Gries for his time and energy in answering the questions below. What is the topic of your thesis? De-risking private investing into smart grid infrastructure. Basically, I looked at different ways to make investing into smart grid infrastructure more appealing to the investment community. I looked at ways to de-risk smart grid technologies so there is less variability in return. I also looked at to what threshold Continue reading Thesis Corner – Jack Gries→

Arguably the most famous central banker of all time, Alan Greenspan is frequently referred to as “the maestro” for his work as the chairman of the Federal Reserve. Despite his renown, he was also known to use quite an obscure index to assess the overall health of the American economy. Understanding the index is simple, decreasing sales of men’s underwear indicate a poor overall state of the economy at large while increasing sales suggest health. His reasoning: only in times when people are comfortable and confident in the economy will the spend money on something they do not necessarily need. Continue reading The Men’s Underwear Index→