Two investigators plunged into the depths of a dark suspicion, producing this report: “Legislating for Economic Sclerosis: Are Lawyers a Baleful Influence on Growth Rates?“, Samuel Cameron [pictured here] and Andy Thorpe, Kyklos, February 2004, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 67–85. The authors conclude: “Our investigation has failed to lend much support to the idea […]
Tag: economy
When an economist talks rubbish
When economists talk economics, some of them talk rubbish. Few mean it as plainly, as directly, as Alexi Savov [pictured here]. Savov wrote a study called Asset Pricing with Garbage, which filled 24 pages of the Journal of Finance early in 2011. To Savov, garbage is valuable not only for its own worth, but because, in […]
100-trillion-dollar bills again fuel the economy
The Associated Press reports that Zimbabwe’s 100-trillion-dollar bills are again helping fuel the nation’s economy: Visitors snap up 100 trillion Zimbabwe bank notes HARARE, Zimbabwe – Western visitors to Zimbabwe are looking for zeros. They’re snapping up old, defunct Zimbabwe bank notes, most notably the one hundred trillion Zimbabwe dollar bill, as an economic souvenir. […]
Bank gives its customers “funny money”
A sign of recovery in the banking industry: Citibank invites its customers to a gambling event at which “The games will be played with ‘funny money’ provided by the bank.” The cover letter accompanying their invitation [a portion of the invitation is reproduced at right] reads: As a token of our appreciation to you, our […]