When you see a merger between two giants in a declining industry, it can look like the financial version of a couple having a baby to save a marriage.
From Adam Davidson
In poor countries, the rich and powerful crush the poor and powerless.
The economics profession advances by one confusing financial disaster at a time.
If an alien with an accounting degree touched down in America, it might conclude that we're a weird cult that spends 11 months living frugally and four crazy weeks buying tons of stuff we don't need. It wouldn't be entirely wrong, either.
We can fight over what the taxation levels should be, but the tax system should be very, very simple and not distortionary.
Economics is all about consumption. People either spend money now or they use financial instruments - like bonds, stocks and savings accounts - so they can spend more later.
Happiness quantification sounds a bit wishy-washy, sure, and through a series of carefully administered surveys across the globe, economists and psychologists have certainly confronted a fair number of sticky issues around how to measure, and even define, happiness.
Happiness statistics may be most valuable in smaller, local discussions. Understanding how different sorts of programs affect the well-being of citizens would be enormously helpful to a mayor choosing between building a new bridge or offering a tax cut.
Most rich countries have reported increases in happiness as they become richer.
Much of what we consider the American way of life is rooted in the period of remarkably broad, shared economic growth, from around 1900 to about 1978.
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