Monthly Archives: February 2007

Please welcome…

Posted on February 20, 2007 by

Well, it took a while, but our first child entered the world at 11.43am this morning. After some consideration of the options, we’ve named him Sebastian Leigh. At 4.4kg, he’s a good sized fella. Mum and bub are doing well. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics of the Family | 32 Comments

Open Thread

Posted on February 19, 2007 by

I may not be blogging as much as usual this week, so here’s an open thread. Do with it what you will.

Posted in Blogging | 7 Comments

The Economics of Extortion

Posted on February 19, 2007 by

Patrick Barron and Ben Olken have a great paper out. Entitled The Simple Economics of Extortion: Evidence from Trucking in Aceh, it looks at corruption along trucking routes in Northern Sumatra. There are so many clever and original things that this … Continue reading →

Posted in Trade & Development | 4 Comments

Reefer Writing

Posted on February 18, 2007 by

A particularly persistent urban myth is that the Great Wall of China can be seen by the naked eye from space (Wikipedia has details). I mentioned last year the fact that the Chinese are quite happy to propagate this myth. … Continue reading →

Posted in Eclectic Observations | 1 Comment

Obituary for a Beautiful Mind

Posted on February 17, 2007 by

John Quiggin gave a splendid presentation at the 25 Australasian Economic Theory workshop at ANU yesterday. His title was Can Game Theory Be Saved? (a joint paper with Flavio Menezes). The basic argument is succinctly put on the first page of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics Generally | 8 Comments

Rennimbi Relief and Bolivar Bestowments

Posted on February 16, 2007 by

Today’s NYT has an interesting oped on ‘rogue aid’, giving a neat Nigerian example: The Nigerian government operates three railways, which are notoriously corrupt and inefficient. They are also falling apart. The World Bank — where my friend works — … Continue reading →

Posted in Trade & Development

Andrew Leigh has a lot to answer for

Posted on February 15, 2007 by

I just noticed (via A Roll of the Dice) this comment from Mumble*: February 9 Betting markets and the genius of punters Centrebet is paying $1.90 for a Labor win and $1.80 for a Coalition one. These (I think) are … Continue reading →

Posted in Australian Politics | 23 Comments