Author: Occasional Economist
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This Is Bad Stock Market News
When stock prices go up, is that good? And when they go down, it’s bad? That apparently is what many financial reporters assume, and they keep reminding us of it. Below are examples of stock market news headlines from some major U.S. sources. What they all have in common: when the market went up, they…
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Editor Misses Story Right Under His Nose (Didn’t Do the Math)
There’s a lot of sloppy reporting about Coronavirus and here is a representative case. Global Report: Nearly a quarter of people in Delhi have had coronavirus, study finds.Antibodies found in more than 23% of Indian capital’s residents; Trump admits virus getting worse; Victoria reports record Australian daily tally Headline from The Guardian, 22 July 2020…
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Hello WSJ: When Was the Future Not Uncertain?
Article contains image of Wall Street Journal article “How to Make Money Decisions When the Future Is Uncertain”.
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The Media Ignore These Coronavirus Protection Strategies — You Shouldn’t
The world’s journalists report every day about the importance of masks and social distancing. But they have virtually nothing else to tell you about protecting yourself from Coronavirus. At the same time, we commonly hear in the news, the virus hits hard people with comorbidities, including lifestyle ailments such as cardiovascular disease and type 2…
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What’s Wrong With Farmers Markets
New Jersey USA, where I live, is awash in seasonal farmers markets. What’s not to love about that? They support local agriculture, and we get fresh nutritious food right from the source. This is to tell you what’s not to love about that. In the typical case, a town gives market vendors weekly use of…
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Nuclear Power: The Missing Cost-Benefit Analysis
An influential new book A Bright Future says the world need lots more nuclear energy to slow the carbon emissions that cause climate change. Renewable energy sources are okay as far as they go, the authors argue, but so far can meet only a small fraction of our needs, especially in the developing world where…
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This Is the World’s Other Existential Crisis (Why Isn’t It In the News?)
Climate change is an “existential” crisis facing the world — at least according to news headlines. But there’s another looming crisis of the existential variety, that few reporters ever cover. This is unfortunate. If you are a news reporter, or a communicator about public policy in almost any capacity, you should should be giving this…
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Why You Should Buy A Plug-In Hybrid Car (And What Automotive Writers Fail To Tell You About Them)
Please try this simple thought-experiment about a little car trip: Assume you have a gasoline-powered, non-hybrid automobile that gets an average 24 miles per gallon. (Metric values below for non-U.S. readers.) Walk out of your house in the morning, get in your car, and drive 4 miles to the gym. Stay there an hour. Then…
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Silicon vs Silicone, For the Last Time
To: Editors of The Guardian Subject: “Europe’s Silicone Valley”Message: Check your chemistry! Let’s clear this up once and for all. Computer chips are made of silicon. That’s element number 14 in the periodic table. In everyday life, we typically encounter silicon as sand (silicon dioxide). Medical implants, especially for a certain part of the female…
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The Numbers Don’t Add Up
This is an excerpt from a local newspaper owned by Gannett. Something struck me as puzzling. Can you spot it? Teaneck Opens Full-Day Pre-K Classes Through Grant About a dozen giggling 4-year-olds stood and danced Thursday morning in a brightly decorated classroom in Bryant Elementary School, watching their teacher as she showed them new moves…
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I’ve Seen This Mistake Probably Thousands Of Times
If I tell you I have hundreds of dollars hidden under my mattress, maybe you will pity me. Obviously, having some amount between $100 and $999 will not get me far. But suppose I tell you I have thousands. What are you to make of that? I have some amount between $1,000 and $999,999? So…
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Elizabeth Warren, Libertarian
U.S. progressives have lionized Senator Elizabeth Warren as champion of the 99 percent against the powers of Wall Street. But how many have looked up her views on education? They should, because she is equally right on that subject. Progressives take note: Elizabeth Warren wants school choice, in other words vouchers, for 100% of American…
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How Would You Solve This?
What to do about a shortage of liquor licenses… or taxi licenses… New Jersey USA has a shortage of liquor licenses. Laws dating to the end of Prohibition limit the number of bars in each town. Even to serve wine in a restaurant, the owner must buy a scarce license from some other existing license…
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Who Is An Economist?
Can someone be an economist, without a Ph.D. degree in the subject? The unwritten rule in USA is: No. This can get awkward. The chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is, in effect, the country’s economist-in-chief. But when Jerome Powell was appointed to this position in 2017, the press widely called him “not an economist”…