From this , the following quote from Matthew Rabin : “...We call this “time inconsistent preference,” and it’s hard to convey how categorically, how unambiguously economists have been wrong about this. Economists have assumed a time-consistent discounting, that to whatever degree we care more about today than tomorrow, we care that same amount
Any possible argument that can be made to justify restrictions on outsourcing can be seen to apply even more strongly to cases in which any technological or other advance reduces or eliminates the requirements for a particular kind of labor. If the manufacture of widgets requires the employment of labor specialties A, B and C, then the outsourcing
While the flow of jobs overseas may seem to be an unlimited flood, this is largely the result of copycat journalism and a ‘good news is no news’ effect. Although it is easy to see that low overseas wage levels are potentially attractive to employers, it is not as easy to see the forces that tend to restrict such an export of jobs. It is even
From Marginal Revolution -- “4. The more concerned we are with price stabilization, the more our economies take on properties of commodity money standards...” - Mehrling Allowing central bankers to attempt to stabilize prices is equivalent to allowing a General Motors ONSTAR operator to remotely drive your vehicle at the speed limit on the
To take a broader view of foreign outsourcing, consider what the effect would on the US economy if the US were to become entirely isolated, having neither imports nor exports. There is little question that the US standard of living would fall, and forever be below the level that would otherwise have existed going forward. However, it may be
PCR states the following: “...In the famous example, although Portugal can produce both cloth and wine more cheaply than can England, the opportunity cost of cloth in terms of wine is favorable to Portugal specializing in wine. In England the internal cost ratio favors England’s production of cloth. It is the differing internal opportunity costs
Many of the arguments that are used to support the idea of stock option expensing as compensation when options are granted to company executives and other employees depend in part on stock grants being expensed. Stock grants ARE currently expensed, but appealing to the status quo is about as weak a logical basis for an argument as might exist. If
In The SS TRUST Fund I conclude that even if the SSTF contained real economic assets instead of the non-marketable Treasury securities that it does, the distribution of those assets as a part of SS payments would have essentially the same economic effect as if the payments were made with a current equivalent number of newly printed paper dollars.
I’m looking for a complete and comprehensive definition of ‘opportunity cost’. Ideally, it could serve as a universal application guide for the concept. I don’t expect that a single reference could be found to satisfy this requirement, but several in combination might, and supplementary and explanatary footnotes could help. This, the best of which
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.