In this paper I reflect upon my life as a Christian and how it has connected to my work as an academic economist. I examine how my parents, teachers, colleagues, mentors, collaborators, and friends have influenced my path thus far. I outline five roles that may potentially be played by...

Students often become frustrated with learning economics not because the economics is too hard, but because they try to grasp the economic device, model, or tool being used at the same time they try to understand the economic theory the device is designed to illuminate. As a result, the tool...

The terms "NAIRU" and "natural rate of unemployment" are not interchangeable. Further, while there is a consensus that the NAIRU represents an empirical macroeconomic relationship, little agreement exists regarding what is meant by the "natural rate of unemployment." This paper estimates the...

This paper explores the problem of envy (“sadness at another's good”) from both theological and economic perspectives. The theological analysis helps show why envy is a perennial feature of human existence and an ongoing problem for ordered and flourishing social life. The economic analysis...

I am quite surprised that the heart of Mr. Myers's response is that we need to slow down and ponder the circumstances of the poor more carefully. I find this stance troubling. We have allowed the global poor to twist in the wind for too long. To make matters worse, we often tell them that they...

While rigidities in nominal factor costs imply a finite slope in the aggregate supply curve, this paper asks, “Do rigidities increase if there is a more competitive economy?” Several authors claim that real rigidities of monopoly power reinforce nominal rigidities due to price adjustment...

Our article empirically considers two general hypotheses related to the literature of behavioural economics. First, we test the null hypothesis that individuals behave, on average, in a manner more consistent with the rational expectations hypothesis than with the idea of self-control in the...

This paper revisits Odagiri's (REStat, 1977) estimation of the demand for economics journals. While Odagiri employed 25 (or fewer) titles, the present paper explores the vast and growing universe of economics outlets. To this end the analysis employs circulation data for general and field...

In the years since the heyday of the rational expectations revolution, new economic challenges have presented themselves in ways that some say call that particular paradigm into question — much like the phenomenon of stagflation confounded many good Keynesian professional economists during the...

Today fair trade follows two approaches. One approach, pioneered a half century ago by organizations such as Ten Thousand Villages, works with artisans to share their unique handiwork with potential buyers with whom they otherwise would not connect. Laura Raynolds and Douglas Murray refer to...