Morning Ed: Economics {2016.06.23.Th}

Will Truman

Will Truman is the Editor-in-Chief of Ordinary Times. He is also on Twitter.

Related Post Roulette

22 Responses

  1. Kolohe says:

    “What is best in life?”

    “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and get the new Land’s End catalog before the 35% off coupon deal expires.”Report

  2. North says:

    Oh FFS, Canada makes somewhere between 15-20% of it’s GDP from oil extraction. That is not chump change granted but it does not a petrostate make. Now the departed and unlamented Harper may have been intent on pushing that % higher but he’s out on his ass and the new administration (and the current oil climate) is definitely not going to be doubling down on those policies.Report

    • dragonfrog in reply to North says:

      I would differentiate between a “state with major petroleum resources” and a “petrostate” – similar to the distinction between a “country with a lot of banana farming” and a “banana republic”.

      That is, I would understand a petrostate to be one where the petroleum industry is not just a major source of revenue and employment, but also of corruption, regulatory capture, and violent oppression, particularly of anyone with the misfortune of living atop oil reserves. Which, there are some warning signs of in Canada, IMO.

      (Man, I can’t read “petrostate” without seeing “prostate” and having to re-parse the word.)Report

  3. Oscar Gordon says:

    Tell me more about the benefits of overly restrictive & protectionist labor markets.Report

    • Saul Degraw in reply to Oscar Gordon says:

      @oscar-gordon

      Again, I think it can be a balance. Does Europe go too far with labour protections for employees and workers? Maybe but there are some worthwhile things in it:

      1. Recognitions of work-life balance and it is not the end of the world if e-mails don’t get answered to the following morning. I never understood why or how so many American bosses seem able to send all their e-mails at 2 in the morning.

      2. Freelancing is uncertain and draining. I was working on a project. We sort of finished last Thursday but received an end of the day e-mail saying it would start up. Last Friday, we received an e-mail that today would be the start date. On Tuesday, I heard the 6/23 start up date again. Yesterday they told me that we were “unlikely” to start up again today but “likely” to start up again on Friday. I am not just waiting for this project either but have numerous projects that are waiting for start dates. This might be great for the owners but horrible for everyone else and is a psychic drain.

      3. Right now the US seems to be at worst of all possible worlds with very protections for labour but lots of power with the employer who can assert non-compete clauses and non-disparagement clauses in contracts. Even if states would not enforce either, there is still a value to the employer to insert them for intimidation purposes because most employees don’t have the funds to litigate against either.Report

  4. Michael Cain says:

    Blank pages and kerning… Back when CK was redesigning things, there was a discussion about changing fonts. I pointed out the visual difference that shrinking the inter-letter spacing very slightly — -1.5% is what I use in my code that reformats the Web for me — could make. He expressed considerable surprise at just how much of a difference in appearance that tiny change made when applied to a whole page of text.Report

  5. Michael Cain says:

    The Supreme Court decision in Fisher is out — UT-Austin’s race-conscious affirmative action program is upheld. One of the longer-time SCOTUS watchers needs to explain the new Anthony Kennedy to me — pro-CO2 regulation, pro-same sex marriage, pro-citizen initiatives, now pro-affirmative action (within limits).Report

    • The guys who whacked Scalia made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.Report

    • After his opinion today, I am considering taking small wagers that he will be the deciding vote in striking down the Texas statute in Whole Women’s Health next week.Report

      • Will H. in reply to Michael Cain says:

        I read Jeffrey Toobin’s The Nine and The Oath last summer.
        Toobin attributes the evolution of Kennedy to greater international contact.
        When the Iron Curtain fell, the former Eastern Bloc states were scrambling to write new constitutions. Kennedy goes to some retreat, and I believe, at times, teaches, in Austria. He found himself in great demand for consultations regarding this new round of constitutions through those contacts, and became very much aware of how the U.S. is viewed internationally.
        Less than a year later, it was Kennedy who first cited international law in a SCOTUS opinion.

        One man’s view. Makes sense to me. Hope that helps.Report

  6. Chris says:

    I think (though I’m not sure) that’s the first ever link by someone I know personally. Cool.Report

  7. Saul Degraw says:

    Automation makes human labor more valuable:

    http://www.vox.com/a/new-economy-future/manual-labor-luxury-goodReport

  8. dragonfrog says:

    For a long time I have liked the idea of starting a micro distillery. But one thing that really give me pause (aside from the whole financial instability thing) is figures like the ones in that article.

    No matter how I set up the business, how I priced and targeted the product, some percentage of my customers would be harming themselves with drink, and I’d be entering an industry that heavily depends on self-harming drinking.Report

    • Will H. in reply to dragonfrog says:

      I really don’t think the crowd that swills Trappist ales are the ones behind the mass bloodlettings of the inebriated.
      For all we know, the shooting in Orlando could well have been caused by Coors Light, and the guy made up the muslim thing to cover.Report