Tag Archives: Labor Economics

Fall of Duty: Video Games vs. The Labor Market

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As technology has advanced, we have seen the effect it can have on labor demand, especially for lower-skilled workers. Erik Hurst, an economist at the University of Chicago, decided to look at how technological change influenced the other side of the market, or labor supply. Hurst, along with his co-authors Aguiar, Bils, and Charles released a working paper called .Leisure Luxuries and the Labor Supply of Young Men examining the impact of video games and other recreational computer activities on the willingness of young men to act as labor suppliers. A Theory of Individual Labor Supply One way which economists have looked at Continue reading Fall of Duty: Video Games vs. The Labor Market→

US Immigration: “The Best and Brightest to the Front, Please”

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Immigration is one of the most talked about political topics in the US and seems to dominate every speech around election time. Political figures have tried to find the “perfect” immigration system (the newest one being a $15 billion wall). But what do economists think about this issue? NPR’s Planet Money asked three different economists for their ideal immigration system for America’s borders. One of these economists came up with a plan titled, “the best and brightest.” The first plan was given by Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. His “dream system” for American Continue reading US Immigration: “The Best and Brightest to the Front, Please”→

The Anti-Boomsday

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Boomsday is a book authored by the famous satirist Christopher Buckley (most famous for ‘Thank you for Smoking) about a young blogger who gets fed up with the baby boomer generation’s excessive social security payments. In order to solve this mounting debt crisis, she proposes that the government provide incentives for people to ‘transition’ themselves when they reach the age of 70. This book was published only a few months before the beginning of the recession, and many people at the time were warily eyeing the exponentially increasing costs of social security as a problem down the road. While Social Continue reading The Anti-Boomsday→