Newmark's Door

"Google’s Gotcha"

"The surprising ways that Google can track everything that you do online".

Some of them surprised me.

"A Gold Medal in the Hypocrisy Olympics"

That's Glenn Reynolds's comment on this: "Obama Tells Fatcat Donors Democrats Favor Free-Market Solutions and Less Government Regulation".

Speaking of fatcat donors, see "Obama in Palo Alto: Fundraising with the Rich Radicals". (Rich people aren't bad if they are Democrats. Of course!)

"The new tech palaces: visionary HQs, or cursed trophies?"

Also  known as "Pride goeth before a fall". 

A fine little lesson in foresighted rent-seeking

Suppose you're a businessman. Suppose you think Mrs. Clinton will probably run in 2016 and will probably win. What do you do? 

Why you throw a little "consulting" business to people who are close to her. Now.
See "Tony's 'Good Fortune'".

"The Worst Lies That Mainstream Nutrition Has Told You"

And some people have the nerve to make fun of economists! These are worse than our worst. 

"38 Signs You’re From North Carolina"

A correction. You don't have to be "from" North Carolina; you just have to live here. Every resident knows about Cheerwine and Bo-Time.

Mon Dieu!

"Forget Paris: Stymied by Socialist Policies, the French Start to Quit France".

Ernest Hemingway once described Paris in spring as a time when “there were no problems except where to be happiest.” Clearly Hemingway did not foresee the springtime of 2013. For many of Paris’ residents right now — in fact, for many French in general — the answer to the question of where to be happiest is: pretty much anywhere but France.

"A Guide to 41 Hyper-Regional Sandwiches"

Some of these need to spread nationwide. 

My advice to a soon-to-be Harvard economics major

One of my wife's students will begin Harvard this fall. He plans to major in economics so he wrote to her and asked if I had suggestions for "Ways to learn material, books to read, important classes to take?" Here's what I sent her to send to him, for anybody who might find it useful.

On courses, five suggestions:

Most places require majors to take an introductory course--often titled "Principles of Economics" or something similar--and then a second course in microeconomics, often titled "Intermediate Microeconomics". That second course in micro is absolutely vital. I'd tell him to ask around at his university to find out who the best instructor is offering that course. Neither the easiest nor the friendliest necessarily, but who has the best mind and who best expresses that mind. I'd tell him then to concentrate hard on that course. Do well in it, and the rest of the major should be easier and more fun.

Take as much econometrics as he can stand. It is very important and useful. If there is only one undergraduate course, strongly consider taking a graduate course if there is one (and take additional statistics courses). And learn either Stata or R.

If he plans on trying to get a Ph.D., take a lot of math. A full year of calculus and a course in linear algebra is the bare minimum. Most grad econ departments want students to make an A in the second-level calculus sequence (usually called "Analysis" or "Real Analysis"). Here are Davidson's suggestions: https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/current/preparing-for-grad-school  Here are suggestions from Harvard: http://kuznets.harvard.edu/~athey/gradadv.html

Take at least one course that teaches students how to write well.

Junior or senior year, write at least one long, research-oriented paper, probably in a seminar course or maybe as an independent study, under the supervision of a good instructor. Examples of what he should aim for are here: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/students/ipe/default.xhtml

On books:

Good introductory books (these can be read before starting coursework, even this summer):

Tradeoffs by Harold Winter

The Armchair Economist, by Steven E. Landsburg

The Economic Way of Thinking, by Paul Heyne, et al.

The Economics of Public Issues, by Roger L. Miller, et al. 

Spin-Free Economics: A No-Nonsense Guide to Today’s Global Economic Debates, by Nariman Behravesh

Good Intermediate Micro textbooks

Price Theory and Applications, Steven E. Landsburg (the most recent edition is the 8th, and the 9th is due soon, but any edition is excellent).

Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, by Hal R. Varian. Complements Landsburg.

Exchange and Production: Competition, Coordination, and Control, by Armen Alchian and William R. Allen. Not strictly an Intermediate Microeconomics text, but it’s so good, who cares?

Others:

A Conflict of Visions, by Thomas Sowell

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor, by David S. Landes

Robust Political Economy, by Mark Pennington

The Myth of Fair and Efficient Government, by Michael L. Marlow

The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics, by William Easterly

The Death of Common Sense, by Philip K. Howard

Getting Rich in America: Eight Simple Rules for Building a Fortune and a Satisfying Life, by Dwight R. Lee and Richard B. McKenzie

A Guide to Econometrics, by Peter Kennedy

Eat the Rich, by P. J. O’Rourke

Readings in Applied Microeconomics: The Power of the Market, edited by Craig M. Newmark

On studying: if he doesn't know how to study by now, I can't help him.

What's up in Detroit?

Call it "ruin porn," if you like, but I think Detroit is an extremely sobering cautionary tale. Every policymaker in the country should be paying attention. 

Detroit, with at least $15 billion in long-term debt, is teetering on the brink of municipal bankruptcy, and is slated to remain under state control for at least 18 months. During this period, the mayor and City Council retain their titles, but little else. (This might explain Mayor Dave Bing’s announcement that he would not seek re-election; neither will four of the nine City Council incumbents.) Instead, the emergency manager appointed by Governor Snyder, the bankruptcy lawyer Kevyn D. Orr, will continue to rule Detroit with sweeping powers that include the ability to privatize city services, sell off municipal assets and alter union contracts. . . .

Indeed, the least surprising development to anyone following Detroit’s woes has been Wall Street’s continued ability to squeeze money out of a city that can’t afford to keep its streetlights on or police its neighborhoods (there were almost as many murders in Detroit last year as there were in New York, a city with 11 times the population; Detroit officers are working 12-hour shifts with 10 percent pay cuts; and private businesses recently kicked in $8 million to buy the department new squad cars and ambulances).

In recent years, Detroit’s water department has paid Wall Street banks hundreds of millions in termination fees alone in order to get out of bad municipal bond deals. (The city utility is so broke, it issued new bonds in order to pay the fees to get out of the old bonds!)

See also "Reckoning Nears for Detroit" and "Detroit and the End of ‘Big Unit America’".