Economics and morals, continued

From Will Wilkinson, here is a good response to Bryan Caplan's claim that many economic judgments don't require corresponding moral judgments. My view is closer to Will's but many people do agree with Bryan.

The text is in for sure

They tell me they have held them in their hands.

The Viagra effect

Incentives really matter.

Again

They promise me the book will be in tomorrow.

How many of you eat cupcakes in DC?

The line outside tiny Georgetown Cupcake sometimes stretches 100 people or more, all queuing up for one of the shop's distinctive $2.75 treats. Regulars have been known to pay people to hold their place. Others multitask or use their cellphones to check whether their favorites are still available. Passersby wonder what all the commotion is about.

Here is more. Why don't they raise the price?

TA Office Hours

From Jayme: The new and improved location for office hours will be Room 120 in Hazel Hall, the same room where class is held. Time is still 8-10pm every Thursday that class is in session. I'm looking forward to many excellent questions on supply and demand!

Is economics value-free?

Here is one interesting and provocative point of view on the topic, I should stress that probably most economists would not agree.

Text now on reserve at the Law Library

Jayme was putting it on reserve after class; I am not sure if there is a lag time before it shows up as available.

Which topics interest you?

Tell me in the comments. I will try to incorporate them into the material and the lectures. Anonymous responses are fine and don't be afraid to sound weird or non-serious. While in general commenting is optional, everyone in the class should answer this question.

Power corrupts

How do these facts reflect, or not reflect, the power of incentives?

History of Law and Economics

Here is a 53-page history of the movement. This is an optional reading, and not part of the testable material, but if you want background on what we are doing you might find it interesting, the link is here.

By the way

For obscure reasons, which would take too long to explain, my name on this blog pops up as "Sam." But "Sam" is "Tyler."

Introductory post

I'll be posting readings here for the class and most of them will be short, such as newspaper and magazine articles. I would encourage you to leave comments on the entries, for the benefit of your classmates (and perhaps for organizing your own thoughts) but I should note this will not contribute to your grade and it is a strictly optional activity. It is also fine to leave comments anonymously, if you wish.

Postings can appear any time during the week but you will not be responsible for postings appearing on the very day of class. Thus, if you check the blog the morning before class you will have seen all of the relevant entries for that week. That said, I would encourage you to check more regularly than that, in the interests of what economists call "consumption smoothing."