contagion

Why Social Distancing Measures Seem Less Effective in the US

Guidelines assume that the less people move around, the less likely they are to be in contact. However, phone location data show...

How to Restart the Economy and Save Lives: Simulations on Northern Italy

Italian officials have to choose the optimal strategy to end the lockdown. A policy that sends all the active population back to...

Covid Economics: During 1918 Influenza, Severe Social Distancing Reduced Negative Impacts on American Economy

ProMarket reviews the most recent and interesting academic papers on the ongoing pandemic: Sergio Correia, Stephan Luck, and Emil Verner studied how US cities and...

Bethany McLean’s Weekend Reading List: Covid-19 Models, Grocery Stores, and Bank Robberies

Corruption, lobbying, corporate malfeasance, and frauds: a weekly unconventional selection of must-read articles by investigative journalist Bethany McLean. Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics. Maybe we...

Managing Expectations Is Critical to Ensure Compliance with Stay-at-Home Measures

A study of a representative sample of Italians finds that 50 percent of respondents reported having adopted all recommended actions, including staying at home,...

An Alternative to Complete Shutdown: Let Younger People Work

The mortality rate of Covid-19 is rising with age. The cost of the economic shutdown declines with the number of people not subject to the shutdown. Consequently,...

Testing People and Targeted Isolation: How to Save More Lives (and the American Economy)

Nobel laureate Paul Romer's model shows that if we use a test to determine who gets put into isolation, the fraction of the population...

This Is Not the Time to Be Cautious. We Need to Contain the Economic Contagion of the Coronavirus

The real danger is that the virus mutates and infects our economic system, even as we manage to root it out of our bodies....

Why More Elderly People Get Infected in Some Countries Compared to Others

Italy has a mortality rate of 6 percent while countries like Norway, Denmark, and Germany have rates still close to zero percent. The...

The Fight Against Coronavirus: What the US Can Learn from Italian Hospitals on How to Prevent a Disaster

In a Facebook post that has since become viral, Italian doctor Daniele Macchini offered a first-hand testimony from the Lombardy region, the epicenter of...

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Commentary

How Financial Contracting Could Help the Police Force Manage Its Aims More Effectively

Hamid Mehran

Hamid Mehran proposes funded deferred pay, an incentive structure to mitigate the risk and costs of police misconduct.

Event Notes

Event Notes: “China’s Political Economy” in Review

Andy Shi

The Stigler Center's "China Political Economy" webinar series returns Thursday, February 9. Here's a reminder of what we covered in our first...

Economic History

To Build an Equitable Economy, We Must Understand Capitalism’s Racist Heritage

Elizabeth Kennedy

American capitalism was built on racial exploitation, from the enslavement of Black people to institutionalized discrimination and its structural impact on our...

Industrial Policy

How To Ensure Industrial Policy Promotes Public Over Private Gain

Lenore Palladino

Industrial policy was once so out of fashion that it was jokingly called “the policy that shall not be named.” Now it’s...

Fiscal Policy

More than Economics, Ideology Determines US Voters’ Preferences for Redistribution

Gustavo de Souza

The US stands out among developed economies for its comparatively low level of redistribution as a percentage of GDP. Gustavo de Souza...