Meager institutional investment returns for pension funds in 2015 and 2016 have marked the low overall returns of the past decade. That period has included losses from the financial crisis, but also several subsequent years of huge returns as markets …
Sasha Volokh on Antitrust Immunity for Regulatory Boards Dominated by Market Participants
Sasha Volokh has a new article on Reason.org analyzing recent court cases defining the contours of antitrust immunity for market-participant-dominated regulatory boards. Here’s an excerpt: If all raisin producers got together in a room and privately agreed to limit the …
I Voted . . .
. . . and I don’t feel good about it. I’m writing this on election day, so I don’t know the outcome of the election. Clinton? Trump? The lesser of two evils is still evil. I conjecture that many people—even …
Canada can improve cost of doing business
A recent issue of the Economist magazine showers high praise on Canada. It says we place second of sixty in the Best Countries index, second of 55 in the Most Reputable Countries ranking, and tenth of 163 in the Good …
Does your vote even matter?
Tomorrow millions of Americans will to the polls to cast their votes. And many other millions of Americans will not. Why bother voting when no individual vote makes a difference in any election or political decision? Why bother casting a …
PowerLinks 11.08.16
Flourishing requires belief in human potential Gov. Sam Brownback, Washington Times The promise of America is a dream. It is not the promise of an easy life, material wealth or even a white picket fence. How Much Does Social Security …
How elasticity affects human trafficking
Note: This is the ninth post in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. Prices can have an effect on the demand of goods and services—even when the “goods” are people. Beginning in 1993, Sudan entered into a civil war, with …
Illegal Immigrants and Federal Income Taxes
By James D. Agresti November 7, 2016 In the last presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Clinton said that “half of all” illegal immigrants in the U.S. “actually pay federal income tax.” PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact check …
What do the U.S. election results mean for climate, energy, and Canada?
One week after the U.S. presidential election and Washington carbon tax initiative vote, the Pembina Institute will host an online forum on the potential consequences for climate change, energy, and Canada. Read More at The Pembina Institute
Norwegian Oil Fund Report Should Be A Warning For Public Pension Funds
Warnings continue to pile up for public pension funds with asset allocations that are heavily invested in equities and alternatives in order to maintain expected rates of return north of 7%. A report last month for the world’s largest sovereign wealth …
A worrisome investment decline in the Maritimes
By DAVID MURRELL (AIMS Author) and JACKSON DOUGHART (Policy Analyst) • Chronicle Herald, 08 Nov 2016 • Charlottetown Guardian, 09 Nov 2016 • Daily Gleaner, 09 Nov 2016 • Telegraph-Journal, 10 Nov 2016 A leading measure of economic health is …
Rolling Stone Defamation Conviction Reveals Danger of Dogma When Addressing Campus Sexual Assault
Former University of Virginia associate dean Nicole P. Eramo won her defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone magazine, and the implications are significant. Successful defamation suits are rare in the U.S., in large part to protect the freedom of speech and …