economic models

  “Politicians or bureaucrats are no different from the rest of us. They will maximize their incentives just like everybody else.” James M. Buchanan   It is 2026, and let us not forget one of the most seminal minds of our times, we should briefly recall the groundbreaking works of James M. Buchanan (1919-2013) who […]

  “In the building practices of ancient Rome, when scaffolding was removed from a completed Roman arch, the Roman engineer stood beneath. If the arch came crashing down, he was the first to know. Thus his concern for the quality of the arch was intensely personal, and it is not surprising that so many Roman […]

  …And when is it just a family feud? Robert Hall coined “freshwater” and “saltwater” in 1976 to describe a split in macroeconomics: the freshwater camp—Chicago, Minnesota, the University of Rochester—building models where markets clear quickly and government intervention mostly just gets in the way; the saltwater camp—MIT, Harvard, Berkeley—building models with sticky prices and […]

  At its best, the scientific method is one of the most reliable tools humans have devised for generating knowledge. It has earned the authority and trust it commands because it is built to correct itself continuously. A claim, or “hypothesis,” is proposed, then tested. If it survives the initial test, it invites others to […]

  The French unemployment rate has not fallen below 7 percent since the 1970s. In the second quarter of 2026, it stood at 8.3 percent as the economy contended with low labor productivity growth, an aging population and a low workforce participation rate. Many young professionals, including engineers, are leaving the country for jobs abroad, […]