Category Archives: Econ 101

Understanding Supply and Demand Graphs

Posted on August 29, 2017 by christopher fisher
Posted in Econ 101, Economics, prices | Leave a comment

why income taxes cannot be targeted

Posted on April 14, 2016 by christopher fisher

See also: https://mises.org/library/new-confusion-about-taxes

Posted in Econ 101, Economics | 1 Comment

a first class economist on the minimum wage

Posted on November 27, 2015 by christopher fisher

An important post on the Minimum Wage debate. Don Bourdreaux posts some blog comments from an anonymous commenter. Excerpts: On possible unintended consequences: (1) Low-skilled workers can be replaced by slightly more-skilled workers once the wage difference between them has … Continue reading →

Posted in Econ 101, Economics, Incentives Matter, Price Controls | Leave a comment

why economists are more reliable than doctors on health issues

Posted on May 2, 2015 by christopher fisher

Russ Roberts and Emily Oster explain exactly why Economists should be the more trusted individuals for health decisions. Roberts also explains why doctors are particularly ill-suited to make health related recommendations. The reason is that doctors generally do not understand … Continue reading →

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professional photographer 2 minutes of hate

Posted on April 16, 2015 by christopher fisher

April 15 is known as Tax Day in America. Within the professional photography community it is a day of rage. In 1984 terms, it is their Two Minutes of Hate. Up to a third of photography business profits might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Econ 101, Economics, Goverment, Incentives Matter, Price Controls, prices, Standard of Living | Leave a comment

taxi avoidance of regulation

Posted on August 14, 2014 by christopher fisher

About 14 million people live in Bangkok. The city is a sprawling maze of streets with the traffic density to match. Most residents drive scooters, but plenty of cars are also to be found. Many (a visible estimate of half) … Continue reading →

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the nirvana fallacy

Posted on July 1, 2014 by christopher fisher

From a post by David Henderson: When people advocate government intervention, they rarely, maybe never, tell us how the incentives will be set up so that government will do the right thing. Think about how asymmetric the argument is. Incentives … Continue reading →

Posted in Econ 101, Economics, Goverment, State Worship | Leave a comment

the black market for legal controlled drugs

Posted on April 21, 2014 by christopher fisher

A while back, I listened to an NPR story about black market drugs. These were normal drugs like Viagra and pimple medication. Because patents and copyrights create a framework for overpriced medicine, black markets in generic knockoffs are thriving. The … Continue reading →

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when krugman was sane

Posted on February 19, 2014 by christopher fisher

At some point in the last decade or so, a very good economist by the name of Paul Krugman morphed into a very bad rhetorician. My own personal theory is that he saw a very lucrative opportunity to fill the … Continue reading →

Posted in Econ 101, Economics, Human Nature, Trade | Leave a comment

repeal the davis-bacon act

Posted on January 26, 2014 by christopher fisher

In 1931, the Davis Bacon Act (DBA) was passed. According the FAR 22.403-1 “The Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq.) provides that contracts in excess of $2,000 to which the United States or the District of Columbia is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Contracting, Econ 101, Economics, Goverment, Labor, Price Controls, prices | 1 Comment