House prices are re-inflating. We've been looking for a house since moving to the Seattle area two years ago, and are seeing it unfold first-hand. In some neighborhoods, prices are approaching peak bubble numbers seen seven years ago. This boom has been created by record low interest rates rates. And the record low interest rates has been created by the Fed (by printing money and lending it out).

Apparently, the solution to a bubble bursting is to re-inflate the bubble using the exact same methods that you used to create the previous bubble. What could possibly go wrong?

Can the dysfunction in politics be reduced by pay for performance? A bonus for good GDP growth, low unemployment, etc.?

President Obama has proposed raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 per hour. Most economists are against minimum wage laws because it discourages firms from hiring low-skilled workers. An easy way to understand the mechanics of minimum wage laws is to ask: What would happen if we raised the minimum wage to $1,000 per hour?

The New York Times reviews anthropologist Napoleon A. Chagnon's book Noble Savages about the Yanomamo of Venezuela and Brazil. Argues that pre-modern societies fought each other constantly, and over access to women rather than material possessions.

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I'll post on the eclectic mix of things that are knocking about inside my head. It'll usually have something to do with economics, business, investing, personal finance, general social science, and the rapid changes in publishing and online education. Cheers!