Sunday, February 9, 2020

Real World Economics: Beware the pitfalls of ‘averages’ – Twin Cities

Social scientists know that few things can cause more damage than a misused average. Recent economic news items, minor in themselves, illustrate traps to watch out for.

The first was a report by Zebra, a company that surveys auto insurance rates, asserting that Ramsey County residents face the highest average rates in the state. A second involved explanations for greater short-term financial flows into Germany than out.

Start with auto insurance rates. Insurance companies may vary rates by location according to their "loss experience." The intensity of their desire to compete in a given area can also enter in but is mentioned less often. Rates are not regulated, but schedules of them must be filed with state insurance regulators and made available to the public. This is the data tabulated by the company that concluded Ramsey country residents face the highest rates.

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Publisher: Twin Cities
Date: 2020-02-09T12:15:58 00:00
Twitter: @pioneerpress
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In case you are keeping track:

Bunn, West: The new suffrage: Economic and financial illiteracy holds women back  – Twin

Next summer, the United States will celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage. This is a celebration of the many years it took to accomplish this feat, of the countless protests, picket lines, and leaflet campaigns, and of the brave individuals who believed strongly in the power of equality and the necessity of suffrage for both men and women.

The underrepresentation of young women in STEM is well-known and incredibly unfortunate. What is not as well-known, however, is that the gender and racial gap in economics and finance is far greater.

Publisher: Twin Cities
Date: 2020-02-09T12:19:09 00:00
Twitter: @pioneerpress
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Virus' Total Impact Unknown – But Economic Impacts Are Serious

HONG KONG, CHINA - 2020/02/06: People seen lining up outside a pharmacy store in order to try their ... [+] luck to purchase some surgical mask which are in shortage in the city. Surgical masks are in shortage in Hong Kong as most residents in the city are wearing them as a preventive measure against the deadly Coronavirus which continues to spread in Hong Kong. (Photo by Geovien so/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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While the virus rages and the full scope of the economic impacts are yet to be seen, for some strange reasons, the equity markets rose the week of February 3 rd . As always, when uncertainty is high, equities react, and it is hard to decipher why. Perhaps it was the rumor that Gilead had an effective vaccine.

Publisher: Forbes
Date: 2020-02-09
Author: Robert Barone
Twitter: @forbes
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Free exchange - Economists discover the power of social norms | Finance and economics | The

O VER THE past generation women have made substantial economic gains, even as progress on other measures of social equality has been uneven. Their average level of education has caught up to that of men across rich and poor countries alike. Indeed in much of the rich world the share of young women with a college degree is now above that of men. Income may be divided less equally across the workforce as a whole, but it has become more evenly spread between men and women.

This evolution was apparent in January, in a lecture given by Marianne Bertrand of the University of Chicago. Over the past few decades, gender gaps in the rich world have had ever less to do with overt discrimination, she argued, and ever more to do with women's decisions. Their choice of degree subject is one. Jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths have smaller gender pay gaps than others. But men are around twice as likely as women to graduate in such fields.

Publisher: The Economist
Twitter: @TheEconomist
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And here's another article:

Amid Lebanon's Economic Crisis, The Country's Health Care System Is Ailing : NPR

Lebanese doctors take part in anti-government demonstrations in Beirut in November. Patrick Baz/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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"I mean, what am I doing on the front? I am against corruption and seeking social justice, and the same for the doctors," he says.

In Khairallah's clinic, which is run mostly by volunteers, the cost of a visit is about $5 and is waived for those who can't afford it. More than 30 doctors serve on a rotating basis, providing specialized care in cardiology, pediatrics, gynecology and orthopedics. Khairallah also corralled pharmacies to donate certain medicines.

Publisher: NPR.org
Date: 2020-02-09
Twitter: @NPR
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AOC mixes up two different economists in Instagram post while talking about a four-day work week

Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made an awkward blunder when she mixed-up two economists while addressing the benefits of a four-day work week in a video shared on Instagram.

The 30-year-old was asked by one of her followers to discuss the benefits of a shorter work week when she misspoke and referred to 'Milton Keynes'.

Ocasio-Cortez later said she had confused a British economist, John Maynard Keynes, with Milton Friedman, who won the 1976 Nobel Prize.

Publisher: Mail Online
Date: 2020-02-09T12:48:54 0000
Author: Valerie Edwards
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Gas Glut Blows Up A Political And Economic Storm In Asia

A glut of natural gas, which has its roots in the U.S., is starting to have political as well as economic consequences as far away as Asia.

In Papua New Guinea plans by ExxonMobil and partners to expand a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project have collapsed after a breakdown of talk with the PNG Government.

Details of the breakdown have not been revealed but the Prime Minister of PNG, James Marape, said he had stopped negotiations because of unacceptable demands from the oil companies planning to invest up to $20 billion in the country.

Publisher: Forbes
Date: 2020-02-09
Author: Tim Treadgold
Twitter: @forbes
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Economics degree holder AOC confuses Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes

R ep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went on an extended discussion about economics and John Maynard Keynes where she referred to him as "Milton Keynes."

The New York Democrat said that the "famed economist Milton Keynes predicted that by 2030, GDP and technology would have advanced so much that it would allow everyday people to work as little as 15 hours a week and provide for their families."

Publisher: Washington Examiner
Date: 2020-02-08T19:57:47.896
Author: https www washingtonexaminer com author john gage
Twitter: @DCExaminer
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