Blog Topics and Style

I am not happy with a lot of the posts. There is too much focus on policy proposals, and poorly supported opinions about policy. Managerial Economics is not a class where national policies often have a role. In particular, I am concerned about posts and comments about Obama's healthcare, environmental, and stimulus policies.

Having said that, there is fertile ground to discuss specific aspects of these policies in the context of the chapters we are currently covering that is being completely missed. Here are some examples:

• Demand and supply diagrams show revenue in a certain way. If we are concerned about healthcare because of the amount we spend on it, how do demand and supply have to shift to make that larger (Chapter 2)?
• What are the demand shift variables for healthcare (Chapter 2)?
• Is the fact that, for those with insurance, office visits are cheap shown with a shift of demand or movement along it (Chapter 2)?
• Why do we have to subsidize environmental measures? What does this tell us about demand and preferences for them (Chapter 2)?
• What is the market for healthcare, environmental, and stimulus measures (Chapter 1)? Where does it start and end? How is this related to national borders, illegal immigration, and organized (drug trade) crime?
• How elastic is healthcare demand (Chapter 3)? Why?
  
• How income elastic is healthcare demand (Chapter 3)? Why?
  
• How elastic is energy demand (Chapter 3)? Why?
• How income elastic is energy demand (Chapter 3)? Why?
• How elastic is environmental policy demand (Chapter 3)? Why?
• How income elastic is environmental policy demand (Chapter 3)? Why?
• If elasticities have these patterns, what can that tell us about whether or not policies will work as advertised?

These are examples, not suggestions. You have great tools available in this class and text, and an open forum to practice using them.