Comments

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 2005

Notes

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 2005

Shortfalls in the Long Run: Predictions about the Social Security Trust Fund

[Symposium: Social Security Reform]

By James R. Hines Jr. and Timothy Taylor

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2005

Many proposals for addressing the long-term issues of Social Security involve benefit reductions both in Disability Insurance and in Old Age and Survivors Insurance. However, the proposals in the papers that follow in this symposium do not alter the long-...

Structural Reform of Social Security

[Symposium: Social Security Reform]

By Martin Feldstein

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2005

Governments around the world have enacted or are currently considering fundamental structural reforms of their Social Security pension programs. The key feature in these reforms is a shift from a pure pay-as-you-go tax-financed system, in which taxes on c...

Intellectual Property: The Law and Economics Approach

[Symposium: Intellectual Property Rights]

By Richard A. Posner

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2005

With the rise of the law and economics movement, the focus of economic analysis of intellectual property has begun to shift to more concrete and manageable issues concerning the structure and texture of the complicated pattern of common law and statutory ...

The Economics of Technology Sharing: Open Source and Beyond

[Symposium: Intellectual Property Rights]

By Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2005

This paper reviews our understanding of the growing open source movement. We highlight how many aspects of open source software appear initially puzzling to an economist. As we have acknowledged, our ability to answer confidently many of the issues raised...

Lessons About Markets from the Internet

By Glenn Ellison and Sara Fisher Ellison

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2005

Many of us have grown used to, tired of, and finally downright skeptical of claims of the transformative powers of the Internet. It was to usher in the New Economy, but we seem mostly to have the Old. It would transform retail, but Toys "R" Us has outlast...

Recommendations for Further Reading

By Timothy Taylor

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2005

Comments

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2005

Notes

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2005

Political Selection

[Symposium: Institutions]

By Timothy Besley

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2005

Almost every major episode of economic change over the past 200 years of political history has been associated with key personalities coming to power with a commitment to these changes. But if such dynamic leaders are so important, then we need to underst...

Law, Endowments and Property Rights

[Symposium: Institutions]

By Ross Levine

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2005

While scholars have hypothesized about the sources of variation in property rights for over 2500 years, it is only very recently that researchers have begun to test these theories empirically. This paper reviews both the theory and empirical evidence supp...

Steven D. Levitt: 2003 John Bates Clark Medalist

By James M. Poterba

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2005

Steve's Clark Medal citation mentions his path-breaking contributions to the economics of crime and to the political economy of campaign finance. This paper describes Steve's research in each of these areas, as well as his contributions on a range of othe...

History Lessons: The End of American Exceptionalism? Mobility in the United States Since 1850

By Joseph P. Ferrie

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2005

New longitudinal data on individuals linked across nineteenth century U.S. censuses document the geographic and occupational mobility of more than 75,000 Americans from the 1850s to the 1920s. Together with longitudinal data for more recent years, these d...

Policy Watch: Reform of the U.S. Postal Service

By R. Richard Geddes

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2005

The author first reviews the current structure and regulation of the U.S. Postal Service. He then discusses the changing size and composition of the U.S. mail stream. Many other countries have already undertaken comprehensive postal reform, including both...

Recommendations for Further Reading

By Timothy Taylor

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2005

Comments

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2005

Notes

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2005

Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making

[Symposium: Cognition, Brain Science and Economics]

By Shane Frederick

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 2005

This paper introduces a three-item "Cognitive Reflection Test" (CRT) as a simple measure of one type of cognitive ability—the ability or disposition to reflect on a question and resist reporting the first response that comes to mind. The author will sho...

Individual Irrationality and Aggregate Outcomes

[Symposium: Cognition, Brain Science and Economics]

By Ernst Fehr and Jean-Robert Tyran

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 2005

In their personal lives, many economists recognize that they are surrounded by individuals who are less than fully rational. In their professional lives, however, economists often use models that examine the interactions of fully rational agents. To reduc...