Gene Amromin ,
Mariacristina De Nardi , Karl Schulze, Chicago FED: Inequality and Recessions. The increase in inequality over the past several
decades has received widespread attention from both academics and the public at
large. While much of this discourse centers on either the causes or normative
implications of increasing inequality, it is important to ask whether the
widening gap between the rich and poor has any direct effects on macroeconomic
aggregates and, in particular, on the severity of the Great Recession, when
output and consumption dropped precipitously and were slow to recover. Is it possible that the changing
distribution of wealth intensified and lengthened the effects of this downturn?
More broadly, should economists and policymakers concerned with macroeconomics
be worried about wealth inequality?
Jutta Bolt, Robert
Inklaar, Herman de Jong, Jan Luiten van Zanden, VOX: Rebasing 'Maddison': The
shape of long-run economic development. Research on long-run economic development has relied heavily on the
database compiled by Angus Maddison. This column presents a new version of the Maddison Project Database
based on historical growth data, but also incorporating historical
cross-country income comparisons. The revisions shed new light on patterns of
long-term development and cross-country income convergence.
Edward N. Wolff,
NBER: Household Wealth Trends in the United States, 1962 to 2016: Has Middle
Class Wealth Recovered? Asset prices
plunged between 2007 and 2010 but then rebounded from 2010 to 2016. The most
telling finding is that median wealth plummeted by 44 percent over years 2007
to 2010. The inequality of net worth, after almost two decades of little
movement, went up sharply from 2007 to 2010, and relative indebtedness for the
middle class expanded. The
sharp fall in median net worth and the rise in overall wealth inequality over
these years are largely traceable to the high leverage of middle class families
and the high share of homes in their portfolio. Mean and median wealth
rebounded from 2010 to 2016, by 17 and 28 percent, respectively. While
mean wealth surpassed its previous peak in 2007, median wealth was still down
by 34 percent. More than 100 percent of the recovery in both was due to a high
return on wealth but this factor was offset by negative savings. Relative
indebtedness continued to fall for the middle class from 2010 to 2016, and
wealth inequality increased somewhat. The racial and ethnic disparity in wealth
holdings widened considerably between 2007 and 2016, and the wealth of
households under age 45 declined in relative terms.
Going blind to see
more clearly: unconscious bias in Australian, Behavioural Economics Team of The
Australian Government: We found that the public
servants engaged in positive (not negative) discrimination towards female and
minority candidates: Participants were 2.9% more likely to shortlist female
candidates and 3.2% less likely to shortlist male applicants when they were
identifiable, compared with when they were de-identified. Minority males
were 5.8% more likely to be shortlisted and minority females were 8.6% more likely to be shortlisted when identifiable compared to when
applications were de-identified. The positive discrimination was strongest for
Indigenous female candidates who were 22.2% more likely to be shortlisted when
identifiable compared to when the applications were de-identified. Interestingly,
male reviewers displayed
markedly more positive discrimination in favour of minority candidates than did
female counterparts, and reviewers aged 40+ displayed much stronger
affirmative action in favour for both women and minorities than did younger
ones.
Eduardo Porter,
NYT: Is the Populist Revolt Over? Not if Robots Have Their Way. As the world’s oligarchy gathered last week in
Davos, Switzerland, to worry about the troubles of the middle class, the real
question on every plutocrat’s mind was whether the populist upheaval that
delivered the presidency to the intemperate mogul might mercifully be over. If
it was globalization — or, more precisely, the shock of imports from China —
that moved voters to put Mr. Trump in the White House, could politicians get
back to supporting the market-oriented order once the China shock played out? Economists studying the changes
in the nature of work that produced such an angry political response suggest,
however, that another wave of disruption is about to wash across the world
economy, knocking out entire new classes of jobs: artificial intelligence. This
could provide decades’ worth of fuel to the revolt against the global elites
and their notions of market democracy.
Karen Weintraub,
NYT: Elephants Are Very Scared of Bees. That Could Save Their Lives. Elephants are afraid of bees. Let that
sink in for a second. The largest animal on land is so terrified of a tiny
insect that it will flap its ears, stir up dust and make noises when it hears
the buzz of a beehive. In recent years, researchers and advocates have
persuaded farmers to use
the elephant’s fear of bees as a potential fence line to protect crops. By
stringing beehives every 20 meters — alternating with fake hives — a team of
researchers in Africa has shown that they can keep 80 percent of elephants away
from farmland.
Catherine Chapman,
Dailymail: The self-parking slippers by Nissan: 'Smart' Japanese hotel offers guests footwear that moves back into
position when not being worn using car sensor technology. Nissan has created smart
slippers to drive onto the feet of hotel guests in Japan. The product is using
the automaker's ProPilot Park technology to move around. The
self-parking slippers are meant to raise awareness of autonomous vehicles.
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