The Government Websites We Most Like (or Hate) to Visit

Website traffic can tell us the information we need from government and some clues about the federal budget.

Part 1: What To Do When More People Are Old

As population shifts, developed nations will have redistribution decisions as the proportion of the non-working aged and the young need more labor income.

The Best Places For Growing Old

With populations growing older in the developed world, their wellbeing might affect the GDP growth rate because of the expense of their care.

All You Need To Know About the World’s Social Security Systems

Showing adequacy, sustainability and integrity for pension systems, a Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index infographic ranks retirees’ entitlements.

Why Baby Boomers Will Pull Productivity Down

1999 might have been Derek Jeter’s best season. Twenty-five years old, he had 219 hits, 24 home runs and 102 RBIs. His batting average was .349. You can see below that .349 was Derek Jeter’s career high with the Yankees. The…

Our Weekly Roundup: From Traffic Lights to Sneakers, Everyday Economics Explained by 5 Great Economists

Our Econlife roundup for the week 7.14.14 An island without traffic lights displays the benefits of Adam Smith’s laissez-faire…more   7.15.14 Why David Ricardo would approve of where your sneakers were made…more   7.16.14 John Maynard Keynes could say why you’ll get less Social…

Inflation: What A Billion Prices Tell Us

Every year, my class meets Harriet Shaw through a PBS NewsHour broadcast from 1991. An economic assistant for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), she is a professional shopper who tracks prices. In the newscast, we follow her up and down store aisles until…

The One Big Reason We Can’t Really Cut the Federal Deficit

It is tough to be a deficit hawk.   Rather than our typical spike in wartime spending, we have a peacetime deficit. (Please note that the federal deficit is just how much spending exceeds revenue during one year.):   Spending for……

One Reason That $1.1 Trillion is Not So Much

The Congress just agreed on $1.1 trillion in federal spending. But let’s look a bit more closely… Each year, I give my class a federal budget graph and ask them to identify the relative size of 17 main spending categories.…