Hawk Talk

We are individuals, but we're also members of society. Economics generally deals with individual action whereas politics deals with the behavior of society as a whole. Economics, as a discipline, seeks to understand, explain, and sometimes predict human behavior. Politics, on the other hand, seeks to control the behavior of society at large. When we talk about freedom, what kind of freedom are we talking about? Is it the ability to decide which goods and services we purchase and from whom without restriction? Is it being able to choose who represents our interests in government and which laws they create? And which is more important? Or is either of them? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they take a deep dive into what, exactly, economics and politics actually are and what freedom in those spheres might actually mean on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Show Notes:

Brain implant improves memory

Oliver North named president of the NRA

Foolishness of the Week

The Pope doesn’t understand economics The Pope and Libertarianism

Topic of the week: What is economics?

Economics informs the decision to marry

How people choose when they know that they don’t know what to pick

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Recently, Senator Chuck Schumer introduced a bill that would decriminalize marijuana on the federal level. He stated that the legality of marijuana should be a matter left up to individual states. This ringing endorsement of federalism might carry a little more weight if Senator Schumer hadn't spent a large part of his political career trying to micromanage Americans' behavior at the national level. Hillary Clinton is widely considered to be a staunch supporter of the LGBT community; however, she was publicly opposed to marriage equality until 2013. These are just two of the innumerable examples of politicians changing their stances on policy issues in the face of evolving public opinion. This is not a new phenomenon or exclusive to a single political party. Not only is it common for politicians to modify their positions of political principles to match changing public opinion, you'd be hard-pressed to find one who doesn't. We are dealing with political followership, not political leadership. So, what does that get us? Antony Davies and James Harrigan talk about this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Show Notes

• Tariff dodgers-01
• Tariff dodgers-02
• PSU’s outing club may not go outside
• Foolishness of the week: Nutrition labeling for pizza
• Topic of the week: Political leaders and followers

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In today's strange climate of political correctness, free speech exists in a weird place. Safe spaces, First Amendment zones, the attitude of victimization, and accusations that "your fav is problematic" abound. And yet, important things, challenging things, dangerous things still need to be said and are being said. One critical "loophole" for dodging the would-be censors to get these ideas out into the world is comedy. Comedians live in a peculiar kind of in-between that allows for a certain audacity in messaging that doesn't quite exist for, say, politicians or activists. Special guest Lou Perez from We The Internet joins James and Antony to talk about messaging, humor, and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Quick hits

More registered voters than citizens

https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/08/election-fraud-registered-voters-outnumber-eligible-voters-462-counties/

UK bans straws

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-chogm-plastic/britain-to-ban-sale-of-plastic-straws-in-bid-to-fight-waste-idUSKBN1HP338

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/16/scientists-accidentally-create-mutant-enzyme-that-eats-plastic-bottles

Toastabag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2KxiFL8XsA

Foolishness of the week New Yorker complains about Chik-fil-A

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/chick-fil-as-creepy-infiltration-of-new-york-city

Topic of the week: Free Speech with Lou Perez

http://www.louperez.net/

https://twitter.com/LOUontheSUBWAY

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Every year, the American people spend about $30 billion on accountants and software to file their taxes. That's on top of taxes themselves. Approximately 26 percent of the average American's income is collected, in some form or another, in taxes. This includes all forms of taxation, such as state and local taxes, as well as federal. If we look at just federal taxation, that still comes to a very respectable 16 to 18 percent (on average) of GDP. But how does that all break down when it comes to federal taxation? Are the poor really getting bent over the taxation barrel every April? Are the rich not really paying their "fair share"? And how did we even get to this point? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss this and more on this week's Tax Day edition of Words and Numbers.

The top 1% earn 20% of all income but pay almost 40% of all federal taxes.

https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/51361-householdincomefedtaxesonecol.pdf

Country comparison of tax revenue from all levels of government per GDP

US = 26%; Denmark = 45%; Ireland = 22%.

This ignores borrowing. If government taxed enough to balance budget, US would be at 31%, putting it on par with Canada.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-do-us-taxes-compare-internationally

Overview of federal taxes

https://files.taxfoundation.org/20170201091804/TaxFoundation-FF540.pdf

60% of US households receive more money back from the federal government than they pay

https://taxfoundation.org/60-percent-households-now-receive-more-transfer-income-they-pay-taxes/

How taxes and transfers trap the poor

https://mises.org/library/dead-zone-implicit-marginal-tax-rate

The income tax was originally a tax on the rich.

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-10-05/income-tax-history-is-a-warning-about-our-future-under-clintons-estate-tax

Number of pages in the Standard Federal Tax Reporter

https://taxfoundation.org/how-many-words-are-tax-code/

Fun tax facts

https://www.factretriever.com/taxes-facts

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Much has been said about the high cost of higher education in America. And it is, indeed, quite expensive and getting more so at an alarming rate. For all that, though, at least we can say that America gets what it pays for in that we have the best higher education system in the world. In fact, it's one of our biggest exports, totaling more than $35 billion—fully 5 percent of America's export market—as of 2015. The same cannot be said for our primary and secondary education systems, with the US consistently ranking at around the middle of the pack among developed nations in standardized test scores. The thing of it is, the average annual cost per student in an American public high school is about the same as the average annual cost per student in an American public university. With the price of educating young people being generally the same for public high schools and public universities, why is there such a huge discrepancy in the outcomes for the students? Is there any way to remedy this situation? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Quick hits

Administrative bloat in health care and higher education

http://hereandnow.legacy.wbur.org/2011/11/02/university-cost-bloated

https://www.athenahealth.com/insight/expert-forum-rise-and-rise-healthcare-administrator

Homeland Security monitoring journalists

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/04/07/homeland-security-database-would-track-journalists-media-influencers-report.html

Foolishness of the week

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/381946-michelle-obama-my-husband-was-the-good-parent-compared-to-trump

Topic of the week: Public schools

Cost per public school student is around $13,000.

https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html

Standardized test scores about the same for most and least expensive public schools

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?chort=2&sub=MAT&sj=AL&sfj=NP&st=AB&year=2013R3

Net tuition and fees at private 4-year colleges is $15,000.

https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-net-price-over-time-full-time-students-private-nonprofit-four-year-institutions

Performance evidence for school vouchers

https://www.cato.org/blog/evidence-school-choice-works

Comparison of US school students to students in other countries

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/

Higher education is a major US export

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2017/01/31/sealing-the-border-could-block-one-of-americas-crucial-exports-education/

Value of a high school diploma

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2012/08/28/public-high-schools-are-not-doing-their-jobs

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There's no way to sugar-coat it. Social Security is going to fail. There are, of course, ways to possibly extend its life for a few years, or even decades, but ultimately, like all Ponzi schemes, it will collapse. By the federal government's and the Social Security Board of Trustees' own admissions, the Social Security program will be paying out more than it takes in in just 4 years. At current rates (and assuming the federal government fully pays back the more than $5 trillion it "borrowed" from Social Security's accounts), the program will be completely out of money in about 17 years. What does this situation mean for current working Americans? Is there any way to solve this problem? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Quick hits

Splitting up Amazon

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/29/former-walmart-us-ceo-congress-consider-splitting-up-amazon.html

National pencil day

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/days-2/national-pencil-day-march-30/

Foolishness of the week: Cancer warnings on coffee

https://fee.org/articles/why-californias-lawsuit-industry-wants-you-to-think-coffee-causes-cancer/?utm_source=FEE+Email+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=ca27aafa08-MC_FEE_DAILY_2018_04_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84cc8d089b-ca27aafa08-107137661

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/general-info/cancer-warning-labels-based-on-californias-proposition-65.html

https://www.refinery29.com/2018/04/195249/coffee-cancer-warning-label-california-starbucks-dunkin-donuts-reaction?bucketed=true

https://nypost.com/2018/03/30/de-blasio-eyes-vacancy-tax-for-greedy-landlords-seeking-top-dollar/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons

Topic of the week: Social Security

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/social-security-administration-spending-tops-1-trillion-first-time

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v75n1/v75n1p1.html

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n3/v70n3p111.html

https://www.ssa.gov/history/nestor.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/us/how-privatized-social-security-works-in-galveston.html

https://www.state-journal.com/2018/01/25/you-asked-can-kentucky-teachers-retirement-system-participants-receive-social-security/

https://www.teacherpensions.org/blog/why-aren%E2%80%99t-all-teachers-covered-social-security

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-bevin-kentucky-lawmakers-pass-pension-overhaul-despite-teacher-ire/

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Pundits are declaring that America is a nation divided. In fairness, this is a true statement, but it's not a new phenomenon. America has been a nation divided since at least the election of 1800. That said, the division is not a dichotomous one. Recent data show that a large and growing number of Americans self-identify as neither Republican nor Democrat, but as Independent. It would appear that a large number of Americans are growing increasingly tired of the ever-more extreme stances of the two major parties, instead favoring more moderate approaches to governance. An excellent microcosmic example of this is the recent special election in Pennsylvania Congressional District 18, a district that in the 2016 presidential election voted in favor of Donald Trump by 20 percentage points. Despite its deeply red tendencies and both the President and Vice President campaigning in support of the Republican congressional candidate, PA18 narrowly elected a Democrat to represent it. A Democrat, it should be noted, who publicly distanced himself from major Democratic leaders and campaigned on issues more typically associated with right-wing politicians. What does this mean for American politics going forward? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Quick hits

The singular “they”

http://theweek.com/articles/758082/why-need-accept-singular?utm_source=links&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=facebook

https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/06/06/he-or-she-versus-they/ 

South Korea encourages people not to work so much https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/south-korea-start-turning-computers-12237489  Foolishness of the Week: YouTube bans all gun related content https://thenextweb.com/google/2018/03/21/youtube-banning-gun-videos-now-theyre-reappearing-pornhub/ 

https://reason.com/blog/2018/03/23/youtube-says-it-will-be-shutting-down-gu 

Topic of the week: Moderation

http://www.insidesources.com/move-toward-moderation/  

http://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx 

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The American federal government has a serious spending problem. The federal debt, the sum total of all the money the government has borrowed, has hit $21 trillion, with a cool $1 trillion of that coming from Trump's first year in office. That is, undeniably, a lot of money, and media outlets all over the country are crowing about it being the first time a single-year deficit has been so high, but it simply isn't so. Even by fairly kind calculations, it's happened at least three times before—once under George W. Bush and at least twice under Barack Obama. Regardless, the federal debt is soaring, and eventually, that debt is going to come due. And when it does, what does that mean for Americans individually and on the whole? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

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Rumors have been circulating recently that the Trump Administration is considering including drug dealing among those crimes that can be subject to capital punishment. That's just a nice way of saying "the death penalty." In an effort to signal to his supporters that he's "tough on crime" and serious about the opioid crisis, President Trump has indicated his positive view of the death penalty for drug offenses in countries like Singapore and the Philipines. But what is the current status of the death penalty in the United States today? How has the Supreme Court ruled on the death penalty in the past? And isn't this a legislative issue, anyway? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Quick hits

Altruistic business https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/new-jersey-businessman-drops-fees-for-shivering-neighbors/ 

Falling space junk http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5486985/Lower-Michigan-crash-site-falling-Chinese-space-station.html  https://www.npr.org/2011/09/21/140641362/where-falling-satellite-lands-is-anyones-guess 

Foolishness of the week

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/scientology-appears-poised-launch-tv-network-1093640 

Topic of the week: Capital punishment

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/countries-that-still-have-the-death-penalty/  https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/us/death-penalty-fast-facts/index.html  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/world/asia/philippines-drug-war.html  http://news.gallup.com/poll/1606/death-penalty.aspx  http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/29/support-for-death-penalty-lowest-in-more-than-four-decades/  https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-international-perspective 

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Last week, President Trump announced his intention to place tariffs on steel and aluminum. Unfortunately for the president—and everyone else, should these tariffs be imposed—more than a century of economic data make it very clear that tariffs are a net negative for the economy. But what are tariffs, anyway? Why are they so awful? And, if they are, why does any country impose them? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they talk about this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Quick Hits

United replaces bonuses with lotteries

https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2018/03/02/united-airlines-replaces-bonuses-with-lottery.html

China bans things

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/01/asia/china-letter-ban-trnd/index.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5701287/china-xi-jinping-president-winnie-the-pooh-banned/

http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-reincarnation-law-20160307-story.html

Foolishness of the Week

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-ci-children-soda-bill-20180213-story.html 

Topic of the Week: Trade and Tariffs

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/03/that-was-then-this-is-now-13.html

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/23/news/economy/trump-tariff-power/index.html

http://www.walkerd.people.cofc.edu/Readings/Trade/iowacarcrop.pdf

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=61826

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_trading_partners_of_the_United_States

https://japantoday.com/category/business/toyota-us-tariffs-will-'substantially'-increase-car-prices

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/03/that-was-then-this-is-now-13.html

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