Differences in Ability and Quality of Teaching

Eric Rasmusen says: "I hear lots of complaints from professors that it is hard to teach a class because the students differ so much in ability. It is easier to teach all smart students or all stupid students than a mix, which is one reason required courses are tougher to teach— they get a random sample of abilities".

Stocks Have Worst Day Since 9/11 Attacks

"Stocks had their worst day of trading since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Tuesday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 400 points on a worldwide tide of concern that the U.S. and Chinese economies are stumbling and that share prices have become overinflated". Read the remainder of the article here.

Greenspan Forecasts a Recession

Former U.S.Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Monday that the American economy might slip into recession by year's end.

Life and Times of Milton Friedman

Remembering the 20th century's most influential libertarian by Brian Doherty published in Reason.

Slavery

The Economist published a confusing and badly written article on Slavery. However it makes a correct point when it acknowledges African participation in the institution of slavery: "A smokescreen still covers the African role in this pernicious trade. It is an awkward fact that the traffic could not have existed without African chiefs and traders. Europeans rarely went far from their forts; slaves were brought to them. Indeed, when the Europeans arrived the slave trade and slavery were already integral parts of local tribal economies. One of the few Ghanaian historians to touch these issues, Akosua Adoma Perbi, writes that “slavery became an important part of the Asante state [the Gold Coast's most powerful] right from its inception. For three centuries, Asante became the largest slave-trading, slave-owning and slave-dealing state in Ghana.”"

Mankiw and Reich

Mankiw criticizes Robert Reich for his economic non-sense: "Robert Reich says that, as a requirement for free trade deals, we should tell developing countries to "set a minimum wage that's half their median wage." The proposal raises two questions in my mind:1. Does Reich pay his nanny, cleaning person, and gardener more than half the median wage of members of his family?2. If not, should I refuse to buy his books?"

Tom Schelling and Michael Spence

A conversation between two Nobel Prize winners:Tom Schelling and Michael Spence