Economic Journal Watch, new issue

Volume 21, Number 2, September 2024

In this matter:

Educational Productivity after CEA: Gordon Tullock wrote that government economists who are found to be able to “put out fires” are assigned to do more, “because government economists can’t read.” Here, Richard Burkhauser, Kevin Corinth, and Casey Mulligan offer themselves as puzzling data points.

Are you smart? DEI in the US intelligence community: John Gentry examines and critiques claims by Carmen Medina and others that the DEI improves operational efficiency at the CIA and the US intelligence community more broadly. (Medina is invited to respond in a future issue of the journal.)

Temperature~economic growth: David Barker analyzes the Economic Inquiry Article by Michael Kiley, who declined to respond to Barker’s criticism of the Fed’s version of the working paper. Barker talks about what’s new and what he thinks is wrong. (Kiley is invited to respond in a future issue of the journal.)

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experimentwhich was mandated by the federal government, apparently created a distrust of the medical profession among Blacks. In a Quarterly Journal of Economics Marcella Alsan and Marianne Wanamaker’s article aims to demonstrate a causal link between stigmatization and mortality in Black males. Here, Robert Kaestner re-examines and concludes that their analysis was based on unsupported theoretical assumptions and flawed experimental methods. He concludes that the article does not provide adequate evidence for the claim that testing caused an increase in deaths among Black males. (Alsan and Wanamaker are invited to respond in a future issue of the journal.)

Can we see the effects of racial violence on black empowerment? Lisa Cook published ia Journal of Economic Growth an article about the impact of racial violence on black American innovation in the period 1870–1940. Here, Michael Wiebe argues that Cook’s results are unreliable and his conclusions uninformed. (Cook is invited to respond in a future issue of the journal.)

If in 1917 the Bolsheviks had failed, wouldn’t Marx have been such a big deal? In a Journal of Political Economy The article, Phillip Magness and Michael Makovi argue that Karl Marx was not destined to be such a great thing, but instead his great place as a symbol and influence was automatically dependent on 1917 and its consequences in the Soviet Union. Here, Joseph Francis challenges their view, and, in response, Magness and Makovi stick to their original request.

Classical Liberalism in Argentina, from 1816 to 1884: Alejandro Gómez and Nicolás Cachanosky treat the influence of classical liberalism in the history of Argentina from independence in 1816 to the constitution of 1853 and its consequences. The main character is Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810-1884). The episode extends Classical Liberalism in Econ, through the Country series.

Purpose: Preposterous! The ‘economy of machines,’ associated with the economist Mariana Mazzucato, regroups the goal of privatizing economic affairs. The aim of the ‘machine economy’ is explored by the 2024 book Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy: Inquiring into the Machine Economy edited by Magnus Henrekson, Christian Sandström, and Mikael Stenkula. Review article contributed by Michael Munger.

Are Economic Freedom and Political Unfreedom Compatible? Mark Koyama reviews Evan Osborne’s book 2024 on economic freedom in contemporary China.

Antidote to Russian Hatred: The Anglo culture of anti-Russia began in earnest in the 1830s. In 1836, Richard Cobden wrote a pamphlet challenging this development. Part is presented here.

EJW Audio:

Glenn Diesen on Russophobia from Cobden’s Time to the Present

Michael O’Connor on Sharpe Ratios and investing


Source link