Mr. Meltzer: There are several problems that I found in your paper but I’m not going to comment on all of them. The biggest problem that I found is the mixture of positive and normative analysis. The paper was full of “cans,” “coulds,” and “mays.” That leaves me in doubt about what basis these propositions may have. As a positive approach, the paper fails because there is no model of government...

This paper surveys the literature on pollinator declines and related concerns regarding global food security. Methods for valuing the economic risks associated with pollinator declines are also reviewed. A computable general equilibrium (CGE) approach is introduced to assess the effects of a global catastrophic loss of pollinators. There appears to be evidence supporting a trend towards future ...

The effect of low birth rates and lengthening lives on the economy is discussed. Two extreme cases are examined: where pensions are entirely on a pay-as-you-go basis, and where they are entirely funded. It is argued that the economy would grow faster in the latter case. The impact on the levels of consumption of each age cohort during its lifetime is assessed. The possible magnitude of changes ...

Situation: Reliable authorities predicted that the US standard of living would increase about 3% a year for the next 20 years, in effect doubling in a generation This would be taken as a very good sign by the general public A growth rate of 1% per year would cause great concern Question: Does the difference between the degree of elation and concern really matter? o Is it well-founded? o Should ...

A growing stream of accounting research suggests that managers use the data reported in a company’s financial reports to make real investment decisions. We extend this idea to the public sector, investigating whether the employment decisions made by governmental entities are influenced by the reporting rules for public pensions and the discretion pension managers use in implementing these rules...

Supply chains often experience significant economic disruptions, as in the case of facility breakdowns, transportation mishaps, natural calamities, and terrorist attacks. We collaborated in a study of such disruptive events as part of an initiative by Sandia National Laboratories. We conducted case studies of three electronics firms and their suppliers to explore underlying aspects of the suppl...

A model of the economic effects of civil war and the post-war period is developed. A key feature is the adjustment of the capital stock through capital flight. Post-war this flight can either be reversed or continue, depending partly upon how far the capital stock has adjusted to the war. The model is tested on data for all civil wars since 1960. After long civil wars the economy recovers rapid...

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We survey the literature on the economic consequences of the structure of social networks. We develop a taxonomy of ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ characteristics of social interaction networks and discuss both the theoretical and empirical findings concerning the role of those characteristics in determining learning, diffusion, decisions, and resulting behaviors. We also discuss the challenges of account...