Developing a Social Welfare Curve

The focus in the first few classes this semester had a theme of efficiency vs. equality. We discussed how it is simply impossible to compile the collective feelings of an entire populous. I would argue however, that such a thing may be possible in the future through computer analysis like that described in this article. When social networks become popular throughout all generations could supercomputers be able to take the temperature of the entire U.S? What would this mean for the way we look at the economy?

Germany shows how to integrate renewable energy

How does an industrialized nation get over 25% of its energy from renewable sources? Germany shows us how, in this article. They used a decentralization process, moving away from four large energy producers to a current count of over 800 producers, in conjunction with a user funded bonus (instead of subsides) to help bring about this change in less than 15 years. Could this kind of changed be realized within the U.S?

Nate Silver and His Magic Numbers

 As we are all well aware, Nate Silver of the NYT blog FiveThirtyEight, made history by successfully predicting the fate of each of the 50 states during the presidential election, correct in many cases down to the margin of victory. The question this article asks is what kind of things will change in coming years as a result. Mainly what will become of the political punditry from both sides of the aisle with the development of hyper accurate political predictions? This article argues that in the US, and in the UK where this is also prevalent, the provision of an example of strong and accurate predictions will help to stem the tide of media outlets using sub-par or biased support for their "I-have-my-own-reality" claims. Do you believe this shift will actually occur in the U.S? Personally I don't see the cash-cow that is political punditry going away anytime soon, either way though, I will be returning to FiveThirtyEight four years from now for my political projections.

Jon Stewart

Not sure if anyone else watched this last night, but Jon addresses the issue of companies complaining about having to provide health insurance to their employees under Obamacare. The first 8 minutes or so are the relevant parts, and he is very funny as always...(link)

High Cost of Education

I ran across this interesting video by Bloomberg on why the cost of education is so high.  Even though it is not my week to post, I thought I should share anyway.  The video explains that the structure of higher eduction is the main source why education is so expensive.  Since a college does not act exactly like a highly functioning competitive business, it is difficult to think purely in terms of efficiency. Since we are nearing the end of our college careers, this is a great video to reflect on.  Was the investment worth it?

Inefficiency also exists in market activity

Think about the soft drink industry for example.  (see link here)

Meeting or Demanding?

President Obama will be meeting with 12 CEOs according to this article. The CEOs represent different sectors of business but the meeting is supposed to raise support for reducing the deficit. The plan is to cut government spending and raise taxes so he is talking about the tax raise with the attendees. Personally, I feel that a meeting implies sharing ideas about this but I think he is more telling them about the changes coming to more or less prepare them. Sure, they are asking for a couple things in exchange but this must have been expected if you are going to meet with them in person, that just opens the door for talks like that. Do you think a meeting was actually necessary or could Obama just have increased the taxes and expect the companies to follow the new rates? What do you think he is trying to achieve with this meeting?