The BBC

Reader SR should be hired by the BBC to vet their stories. Apparently you can watch foreign films in Bangladesh, as he points out in his blog here. I can only imagine that what the BBC calls a strict ban on foreign films is probably more along the lines of a small quota, which is why you can find some Hollywood films playing on the big screen in Bangladesh.

Covering the Labor Market

Brad DeLong is co-teaching a journalism class on reporting on the economy. In this entry he details the coverage labor market data.

Seven background graphs on employment statistics:
Payroll Survey
Employment Growth since 1994
Long-Term Unemployment
Unemployment and Underemployment
The Employment-to-Population Ratio
Thirty Years of the Unemployment Rate
Three Years of the Unemployment Rate
Unemployment:The Importance of Seasonal Adjustment

New claims for unemployment insurance emerge every Thursday...

Monthly Employment Report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics every month, at 8:30 AM on the first Friday: Statement by Commissioner of Labor Statistics Kathy Utgoff. The January 6, 2006 Employment Report itself.

Keywords: Unemployment, ECO120, ECO712

Porn and Unintended Consequences

I think being an Economist helps you better understand the Law of Unintended Consequences. And makes you better at forecasting the consequences. Although even I might not have forecast this from Cafe Hayek:

The government of Bangladesh prohibits any films made outside of Bangladesh from being shown in theaters in that country.

Can you guess the consequences of such protectionism for what's called Dhallywood? According to a report on NPR's program The World, these consequences do not include lots of creative energy springing forth in Bangladesh to produce outstanding films. The consequences instead include bad, formulaic, banal movies, each one very much like the others. The movies are so bad that theater owners have taken to inserting scenes of hardcore pornography into their screenings in order to attract audiences.

(To hear this report, click here, and then scroll down to -- and then click on -- "Dhallywood movie report.")

Tyler Cowen's In Praise of Commercial Culture explains why a protected movie industry is doomed to produce films that no one wants to see.

Keywords: Porn, Protectionism, Unintended Consequences, ECO120

Nude Dancing

Somehow I missed this excellent series of posts on The Vice Squad back in 2004. It included an excellent discussion of Barnes v. Glen Theatre here. It also includes some links to Will Baude and some excellent commentary from Posner. Another voice chimed in on the subject.

Speaking of which I believe I've pulled off a major coup, as I've organized a session that will include Posner. More on that in the next week.

Keywords: Nude Dancing

Grades for Grad Students

Looks like Harvard and others will be ending the ban on Grad students disclosing their grades to prospective employers.

The ban on grade-sharing has been enormously popular with students since it was adopted in 1998. Supporters say that it discouraged (or at least kept to a reasonable level) the kind of cut-throat competition for which business schools are known. With the ban, students said they were more comfortable helping one another or taking difficult courses.

And over at Wharton:

The Wharton School as an institution does not have a ban or requirement on disclosing grades, but the student government adopted a policy in 1994 banning the release of grades.

Serhan Secmen, student body president at Wharton, said that students there are proud that the policy is not a “top down” rule like the one Harvard is ending, but is one that they have come up with themselves. He said that even though the student government has no way to enforce the rule, students abide by it.

He said that keeping grades from prospective employers encourages “teamwork and student collaboration.”

I suppose there is an interesting mix of issues at play. There are the obvious individual incentives provided by grades, with the possible perverse group incentives. Of course group projects and grading may ameliorate these to some degree, if you can overcome the free rider problem.

And then you have the importance of signaling. Taking the grade signal out of the employer/student matching equation helps some and hurts others. I imagine this policy is great for pretty, white, dumb people, but everyone else who isn't covered by one of those adjectives should rethink their position.

Keywords: Grades

How Scientific Progress is Made

The process should be an open, transparent, and collegial search for the truth. Levitt is an outstanding academic, he is open, transparent, honest, collegial, and still right.

Keywords: Abortion, Crime

Exchange Rates

I previously studied exchange rates. Well I suppose I still do, but with much less fervor than I once had. This post by the New Economist, does a great job of bringing some resources together concerning the micro-structure approach to understanding some puzzles of ERs.

Keywords: Exchange Rates, ECO120, ECO301