No one likes to pay $50 to gas up a car, but consumers should keep last week’s news of high oil prices in perspective. Oil at $67 per barrel in August 2005 does not mean gas at $2.50 a gallon…
Greenspan shouldn’t coast
When I was in Vietnam, people nearing the end of their tours of duty often focused on it to the point of obsession. Soldiers kept short-timers’ sheets — calendars showing the days left until their return home — and ritually…
Technology transitions carry costs
Even as wind power and other nontraditional means of generating electricity grow in importance, we still need the conventional methods. But who should pay to support those older technologies? The question crops up in many situations where new technologies are…
Even economists driven to consume
My old pickup died Monday evening. My response to this emergency makes for a case study in both micro- and macroeconomics. Micro — how do people decide what to spend their money on? Macro — how is consumer behavior affected…