Thursday, January 16, 2020

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Incentives for Public School Teachers in the D.C.


"screening mitigated both the adverse selection and the moral hazard problems and not by small amounts" (https://managerialecon.blogspot.com/2013/10/michelle-rhees-tenure-as-washington-dcs.html).

Some of the comments fear that cheating by teachers may account for some of the increase in measured performance.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Can the Fed write better?

Which statement is written better?

"This action supports the Committee’s view that sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near the Committee’s symmetric 2 percent objective are the most likely outcomes, but uncertainties about this outlook remain,”

or

“The Committee weighed arguments for and against cutting interest rates, considering the state of the economy, labor markets and inflation. The majority found the arguments favoring a 25-basis-point cut today more persuasive. But the Committee sees no case for further rate cuts unless the economy weakens or inflation starts to fall. Absent either such change, we expect to hold interest rates steady in the near future. The future is always uncertain, however, so we stand ready to reconsider this decision should circumstances warrant.” 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fed-should-speak-english-for-a-change-11578355141?mod=opinion_lead_pos10

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Mattel Commits the Fixed-Cost Fallacy


Mattel increased price for products produced at a plant when transferring one product at the plant increased the average fixed cost for the products that remained (WSJ, Jan. 2020).