Are you in with the in crowd?

At the core of your company, there is a group of people who seem to call the shots--or, rather, all the shots seem to be called for their benefit. This core group can't be found on any organization chart. It exists in people's hearts and minds. It comprises the people whose perceived interests and needs are taken into account as decisions are made throughout the organization. In most companies, talking explicitly about this group is taboo; its existence seems to contradict the vital corporate premise that we all have a common stake in the firm's success. In the best organizations, the core group can be a resource: Members represent the unique values and knowledge that distinguish their companies. When core groups display independence, creativity, and power, the rest of the company follows. Such behavior on the part of the company, in turn, creates value for shareholders, especially over the long term. But because of the core group's enormous power, members need to make themselves aware of the signals they send, both intended and unintended. For better and for worse, the core group reinforces whatever it pays attention to. A core group member who casually mentions a product might well discover three weeks later that someone has spent $1 million introducing it. If you do not know who constitutes the core group in your organization, or what the members stand for, you may find that leading will be extremely difficult--even if you are ostensibly the person in charge. If you want to move the organization in a new direction, you may need to explicitly challenge the core group. Otherwise the rest of the organization will not go along.     

James M. Buchanan and the Political Economy of Desegregation

Were 1986 Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan's formative contributions to political economy inspired in significant part by hostility to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision? Nancy MacLean's 2017 Democracy in Chains argues that public choice economics emerged from an opportunistic alliance with Virginia's “Massive Resistance” to school integration and should thus be situated within the racially tinged tradition of southern conservatism. While Buchanan wrote very little on the economics of race, archival evidence and his published works do not support this thesis. Buchanan's work is better understood with reference to his Chicago school mentor Frank Knight and the Italian public finance tradition rather than southern conservatism. To the contrary, we suggest Buchanan believed the competitive processes generated by an educational voucher system would likely undermine rather than rescue the racially segregated status quo. Furthermore, Buchanan's associations and activities suggest that racial hierarchy was not part of his normative vision.     

古今中国文人画杂谈

中国古代文人画"文人画"顾名思义是文人所作的画,它是一种比起严格的技法和体裁更追求画外功夫的诗意创作,文人想通过这种诗意的表达来抒发他们的思想、情趣、品位和文化意蕴。中国文人画的起始众说纷纭,比较一致的意见是远在唐宋之前便已盛行,而它的鼎盛可说是在中国院体画最受追捧的唐和北宋时期。其实中国古代文人作画并不以绘画技术的精湛为目的,更没把书画当作"正事"。他们把绘画看作是一种闲情逸致,闲来挥洒情思,有时甚至觉得画得太精是一种"俗"。     

The brave new world of valuing life sciences and healthcare enterprises

Life sciences and healthcare enterprises represent the largest industry in the U.S. economy. Given the importance of this sector, there is increasing demand for financial valuation of both publicly and privately held companies. At the same time, accurate valuation is particularly difficult in light of shifting business models, the current economy, intellectual property rights issues, continuous innovation in the sector, changing population demographics, quality issues, and government involvement in healthcare debate, discussion, and regulation. Herein, we examine the changing and increasingly problematic valuation of life sciences and healthcare enterprises that have obvious importance from a social welfare perspective.     

The economics of “Certaine Lewd and Ill-Disposed Persons”: Comment on Leeson

In The Invisible Hook, Peter T. Leeson explores “the hidden economics of pirates.” The implications of his work are many, and there are several clear ways in which scholars can build on his insights. First, exploring piracy helps us better understand the rent-seeking societies of mercantilist Europe. Second, public and private policy toward pirates helps us better understand the institutions and organizations that emerge in order to govern and manage common resources. Third, the nearly universal condemnation of pirates by religious authorities and political leaders as well as the association of pirates with the demonic and satanic suggests further directions for research into the interactions between ideology, politics, and economic institutions.     

拍卖季，我们更关注中国当代!？

香港佳士得总成交额31．6亿，推出的中国近现代绘画专场，成交额达5．6亿多。成交率95％。亚洲当代艺术和中国现当代艺术总共拍了5个多亿，为接下来的内地拍卖造就了东风之势。在保利5周年的拍卖上，保利是卯足了劲．此次秋拍成交总额达到了52．8亿，剧新中国艺术品拍卖单季纪最。其中中国古代书画总成交13．9亿元，中国近现代书画成交额20．1亿元。中国古董珍玩成交额12．9亿元。现当代艺术共成交4．4亿元。     

Supersizing supercenters? The impact of Walmart Supercenters on body mass index and obesity

Researchers have linked the rise in obesity to technological progress reducing the opportunity cost of food consumption and increasing the opportunity cost of physical activity. We examine this hypothesis in the context of Walmart Supercenters, whose advancements in retail logistics have translated to substantial reductions in the prices of food and other consumer goods. Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System matched with Walmart Supercenter entry dates and locations, we examine the effects of Supercenters on body mass index (BMI) and obesity. We account for the endogeneity of Walmart Supercenter locations with an instrumental variables approach that exploits the unique geographical pattern of Supercenter expansion around Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. An additional Supercenter per 100,000 residents increases average BMI by 0.24 units and the obesity rate by 2.3% points. These results imply that the proliferation of Walmart Supercenters explains 10.5% of the rise in obesity since the late 1980s, but the resulting increase in medical expenditures offsets only a small portion of consumers’ savings from shopping at Supercenters.     

ARE ECONOMISTS ‘MARKET FUNDAMENTALISTS’?

We summarise Bryan Caplan's defence of economists from The Myth of the Rational Voter, in which he argues that economists undersell the benefits of markets. We also elaborate on his conclusions and discuss applications to specific topics, such as the minimum wage, as well as how Caplan's results might affect the way economics courses are taught.