The tale of Uber and a 19th-century French economist

The French government and French taxi drivers are furious with Uber, the US car-hailing company.  At the end of June, the government arrested two top executives of the French division of Uber and is planning to bring them to trial. That came a few days after taxi drivers staged violent protests in Paris, burning cars and attacking other drivers who they thought worked for Uber. Continue reading

Why do stocks fall when the Fed considers raising interest rates?

A top-level committee of the Federal Reserve, the US’ central bank, is meeting this week to discuss when it should begin raising interest rates.  Why do stock prices fall when a country’s central bank boosts interest rates?

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Are we overscheduling our children even from the moment of their birth?

Are we overscheduling our children even from the moment of their birth?

We live in an on-demand world. Movies are shown on request, food is delivered on call and drivers arrive when beckoned. As an economist, not a medical doctor, I was surprised to find new data that suggest more babies are showing up when scheduled rather than on their own time frame.

Numerous writers have suggested that parents, teenagers and children are all overscheduled. Should birth be scheduled too? Continue reading