Casey B. Mulligan: The iPhone and Consumer Spending. Casey B.
Mulligan is an economics professor at the University of Chicago. That the introduction of iPhone 5 increases consumer spending is no triumph for Keynesian economics, but merely an advertisement for plans by the Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve national accounting. Suppose there were an island economy with 100 able-bodied adults, all of whom work as fisherman, each catching a fish a day. The 100 fish are eaten by the island people, which makes inflation-adjusted daily consumer spending in the economy – or consumption, as economists call it – equal to 100. (In order to clarify concepts and measurement practices, I have deliberately kept this model economy simple, with no unemployment, liquidity traps and the like.) To Stay Relevant in a Career, Workers Train Nonstop.
Daniel Rosenbaum for The New York Times Bill Moss, whose repair business in Virginia focuses on European vehicles, said technology had pushed garages to specialize.
Tony Ortega and Maura Johnston to Leave The Village Voice. After five and a half years as editor of The Village Voice, Tony Ortega announced in a blog post that he would be stepping down to work on a book about Scientology.
The music editor, Maura Johnston, took to Twitter to say she was leaving the newspaper as well. Mr. Ortega said that he would leave next week and that staff members were available to handle the transition. No successor has been named, but Mr. Ortega said Christine Brennan, executive managing editor of the newspaper’s parent company, Village Voice Media, was looking to hire in New York — a fact he said “should please all the writers out there.” Fewer Uninsured People. The Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that the number of people without health coverage fell to 48.6 million in 2011, or 15.7 percent of the population, down from 49.9 million, or 16.3 percent of the population, in 2010.
Health experts attributed a big chunk of the drop to a provision in the health care reform law that allows children to remain on their parents’ policies until age 26. Some three million young adults took advantage of that provision, other surveys show. The bureau also reported that the percentage of people covered by private insurance stayed flat at 63.9 percent, the first time in a decade it has not fallen. In Prosecutors, Debt Collectors Find a Partner. The Thiel Fellows, Forgoing College to Pursue Dreams. Alaska Planning for Emergency Stockpile of Food. Is It Better to Buy or Rent? - Interactive Graphic. As Bangladesh Becomes Export Powerhouse, Labor Strife Erupts. Laura D'Andrea Tyson: Evidence vs. Ideology in the Medicare Debate. Laura D’Andrea Tyson is a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and served as chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton.
When formulating public policy, evidence should be accorded more weight than ideology, and facts should matter more than shibboleths. The Romney-Ryan plan for Medicare reform depends on assertions that are ideologically consistent. But the Republicans plan is not supported by the evidence and does not survive serious scrutiny. Perhaps that’s why the Romney campaign has been deliberately misrepresenting President Obama’s Medicare record. Mitt Romney characterizes the $716 billion of Medicare savings over the next 10 years, contained in the Affordable Care Act, as President Obama’s “raid” on the Medicare program to pay for his health care program. Both Governor Romney and Representative Paul D. President Obama’s health care plan is not a raid on Medicare; it is an investment in a stronger system. CBO: U.S. Will Slide Into Recession in 2013 If Congress Fails to Act.
Bernanke Letter Defends Fed Actions. News Corp.'s Chief Digital Officer to Step Down as Company Prepares to Split. Phil McCarten/ReutersJonathan Miller News Corporation’s chief digital officer, Jonathan Miller, will step down, the company announced on Thursday, in the latest example of an executive departing since News Corporation said it would split the publishing business from the rest of the company.
Mr. Miller will leave his post at the end of September but will continue as an outside adviser on digital matters through fall 2013, the company said. Previously the chairman and chief executive of AOL, Mr. Miller came to News Corporation in 2009 to help manage the company’s tech investments and steer its brands into the digital age. Initially, Mr. Bloomberg Backs Fracking, With Rules to Protect the Environment. Nokia's Bad Call on Smartphones. Private Jet Industry Recovering Among Business Travelers. Close to Cape Cod Shore, Humpback Whales Are Far From Safe. Then he dives again.
Over and over. Touché’s feeding strategy, captured in June by an electronic tag attached to his back, is of keen interest to scientists tracking North Atlantic humpback whales off Cape Cod. “Every time we go out and put another tag on, we learn something else,” said Dave Wiley, research director of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts, who returned to shore recently after plying its waters for two weeks with researchers from several institutions.
For Dr. Young Iranians Bypass State With Earthquake Relief. Senate Confirms 2 Fed Board Nominees.