Notable: October 25, 2016

• As Europe and Asia Hoard Cash, Economists See Echoes of Crisis By LANDON THOMAS Jr., The New York Times, OCT. 24, 2016
• Why the U.S. Still Trails Many Wealthy Nations in Access to Care By Aaron E. Carroll, The New York Times, OCT. 24, 2016
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Notable: October 23, 2016

• I Paid $2,500 for a ‘Hamilton’ Ticket. I’m Happy About It. By N. GREGORY MANKIW, The New York Times, OCT. 21, 2016. [The whole phenomenon of performers charging below-market prices, perhaps to avoid looking greedy, but only to make ticket scalpers rich, drives economists nuts. Here, Greg Mankiw says the obvious: "Mr. Miranda and his investors could find better ways to give back to the community than vastly underpricing most “Hamilton” tickets and enriching ticket resellers. Maybe fund scholarships for theater students." Lin Manuel Miranda had written in favor of legislation against the online ticket-buying bots that scoop up "Hamilton" tickets and resell them at a premium. I had posted that article on Facebook and had argued that the government should step in and _require_ the tickets to be sold at auction to the highest bidders, and promise to take any part of the revenues that "Hamilton's" owners feel morally unwilling to accept.]
• A New Biography Focuses on Karl Instead of Marxism By PETER E. GORDON, The New York Times, OCT. 21, 2016. [Review of  "KARL MARX: Greatness and Illusion" By Gareth Stedman Jones.]

Notable: October 22, 2016

• Doomsayers Keep Getting It Wrong on Higher Minimum Wages By Barry Ritholtz, BloombergView, October 21, 2016
• Liberals Compete for the Soul of Economics By Noah Smith, BloombergView, October 21, 2016
• Smart Contracts Don’t Have to Be Dumb By Elaine Ou, BloombergView, October 21, 2016 [The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was given earlier this month to Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom for work on contract theory, of which -- sad to say -- I know very little. In this article, a "blockchain engineer" in a financial technology company says that Hart's work helps in the design of "smart contracts", which she defines as "software that secures a relationship over a computer network."]
• Universal basic income for India By Vijay Ramchandra Joshi, Ideas for India, October 21, 2016
• Nobel prize in Economics 2016: The economy as a nexus of contracts By Maitreesh Ghatak, Ideas for India, October 19, 2016
• Nobel insights: When it comes to contracts, what’s obvious may not be optimal By Rohini Somanathan, Ideas for India, October 18, 2016
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Notable: October 19, 2016

• Giving Every Child a Monthly Check for an Even Start By Eduardo Porter, The New York Times, October 18, 2016
• Social Security at Stake on Nov. 8 By THE EDITORIAL BOARD, The New York Times, OCT. 19, 2016
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Notable: October 18, 2016

• Germany’s Apprenticeship System Comes Under Attack By TOM FAIRLESS, The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 16, 2016
• Wall Street’s “Do-Nothing” Investing Revolution By Dennis K. Berman and Jamie Heller, The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 17, 2016
• The Dying Business of Picking Stocks By ANNE TERGESEN and JASON ZWEIG, The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 17, 2016 [Passive investing has become investors’ default, driving billions into funds that track indexes. It’s transforming Wall Street, corporate boardrooms and the life of the neighborhood broker. ]
• Why Passive Investing is Overrunning Active, in Five Charts By Sarah Krouse, Spencer Jakab, Jason Zweig and Hanna Sender, The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 17, 2016
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Notable: October 15, 2016

• The Mathematics of Cake Cutting By Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine, October 13, 2016
• All Is Not Fair in Cake-Cutting and Math By Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine, October 7, 2016
• Donald Trump Tax Plan Would Add to Debt and Hillary Clinton’s Wouldn’t, Study Finds By JACKIE CALMES, The New York Times, OCT. 11, 2016
• Five Books to Change Liberals' Minds By Cass R. Sunstein, BloombergView, October 11, 2016
• Stat By Maria Bustillos, Longreads, September 2016 [Is there a dietary treatment for multiple sclerosis? And if so, why is the medical establishment ignoring published academic research that started in the 1950s proving it?]
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Notable: October 13, 2016

• ‘True Scale’ of India’s Tuberculosis Problem: 2.8 Million New Cases By GEETA ANAND, The New York Times, OCT. 13, 2016 [This is a horrifying reminder of the tuberculosis crisis in India. It seems the government is introducing a new plan of attack, based on India's successful anti-polio program. The focus of the new plan seems to be on treatment, and I wish there was more on prevention, with sustained attempts to (a) provide clean drinking water and (b) end open defecation. On treatment, the article suggests that the main failure has been the private sector's. For some unexplained reason, the private sector has been particularly bad at treating tuberculosis in India, which is why the government will be leading the charge in the new strategy.]
• Nobel prize winners’ research worked out a theory on worker productivity – then Amazon and Deliveroo proved it wrong By Ben Chu, The Independent, 11 October 2016
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