-
Recent Posts
Latest Tweets
- @GrantFitzner A belated thanks for your retweet and welcoming message the other week! 5 days ago
- Flexible labour markets: what do SMEs actually want?: smf.co.uk/marketsquare/n… 1 week ago
-
Top Posts
Category Archives: New research
Hey, big risk taker
Correlations are fun, aren’t they? What would the newspapers be without them? With an empty Health and Science section, that’s what. According to a paper by Olaf Hubler at the Institute of Empirical Economic Research, there is a correlation between … Continue reading
I can see through you (or can I?)
Career coaches (actually, no, everyone) says that you need to act confident to get to what you want. Think positively. Tell yourself you’re great. Believe in yourself. Being confident signals to others that you are high ability. But what about … Continue reading
How the Joneses change with age, or how I use my quantum physics book to show off
I was recently reading an article about Higgs Boson, and irritated by the fact that I wasn’t sure I entirely understood what was going on, decided that I needed to purchase a book about quantum physics. I’ve been reading it … Continue reading
Clock and awe
The last time I felt a sense of real awe was in Iceland, hearing the rumble of the Gullfoss waterfall, and then catching my first glimpse of it. It’s a waterfall that in summertime throws an average of 140 cubic metres per … Continue reading
Don’t believe this blog – economists lie!
An old economics “joke” goes along the lines of an interviewer asking a mathematician what two plus two equals. The mathematician replies “four”. The interviewer asks an economist the same question. The economist gets up, locks the door, sits down … Continue reading
Benevolent dictators versus leaders with personality
Do benevolent dictators exist? And do democratically elected leaders always deliver better outcomes for their peoples? Authoritarian North Korea has unequivocally not delivered economic benefits for its citizens in the way that more democratic neighbours have. But recently, China’s mix of authoritarianism with a … Continue reading
Why are the French miserable?
According to a recent slew of books, French children don’t throw food. And French women don’t get fat. I have noticed that they often have nice scarves. So chic. But does that make them happy? No. According to happiness surveys, … Continue reading
Bigoted? No, just overconfident and bad at statistics
There are different shades of discrimination. There is active dislike of a particular group of people, and then there is the tendency to make generalisations about individuals based on the (perceived) characteristics of the group you associate them with e.g. of … Continue reading
Does money makes things worse?
Want to encourage people to do something? Give them a monetary incentive: pay them to do it, or fine them if they don’t. This is the traditional economic answer. But over the years, various studies have shown that it isn’t … Continue reading
What’s the meaning of happiness?
Satisfaction? Contentment? Excitement? Peace? All of the above? Earlier this week, the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) published findings from its initial investigation into the UK’s subjective well-being. It tested out various types of questions, asking people about their … Continue reading
