EconAir

Berkeley 1962 - 30 students against racial discrimination I was mildly political in high school. In 1960, I picketed the Democratic Convention that was in L.A. with a small group of radical Quakers protesting atmospheric testing of atomic weapons. The protest was in front of the Biltmore Hotel, where the candidates were staying. We were outnumbered by federal agents with cameras. After our little protest, I wandered into the Biltmore. While loitering in the main corridor, John Kennedy walked by. He was a few feet away. I didn’t think anything of it until his brother was assassinated eight years later in a different Los Angeles hotel. Looking back, I was amazed at the lack of security. A kid in a protest just walks into the hotel – no security at the door, no identity checks, very little security (if any) around Kennedy. I guess all the government agents were too busy developing the film they took of our protest and writing detailed reports on how Quakers were threatening America’s secu...

INTRODUCTION This blog was prompted by an article in the Sunday New York Times   Business Section of April 14 titled, “Sometimes We Want Prices to Fool Us.”   The article is about the J. C. Penny’s merchandising disaster. HAGGLING In 2012, J. C. Penney’s sales dropped 25% compared to 2011.   Over two years ago, Penny’s brought in Ron Johnson from Apple Stores to turn the company around.   Mr. Johnson eliminated sales and coupons and promised shoppers “everyday low prices,” Walmart’s slogan.   This saved huge amount of money on inventory and advertising costs and smoothed out cash flow.   Great strategy.   Penny is near bankruptcy.   Ron Johnson has been fired and sales supplements are reappearing in my newspaper. Simple economic theory assumes one equilibrium price.   Each potential consumer compares his/her expected “pleasure” from buying the product to the cost (price) of the product, and then decides whether or not ...

I reread Alice in Wonderland last year. I’ve been reading a lot of weird books in the last two years but Alice in Wonderland is the weirdest. It’s like a children’s story written by Franz Kafka. The book and its images continue to resonate. I’ll skip the cheap shot of recalling the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party because a lot of recent commentators have already used it. Also, there’s a serious idea in game theory called the Red Queen Effect, even a whole book about it by Matt Ridley. (Any book by Matt Ridley is recommended.) But the time Alice in Wonderland really resonated was the 1960s. The following are the lyrics from the group and the song that was virtually the anthem of the Berkeley/San Francisco counterculture. It was written by the group’s lead singer, Gracie Slick. "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you Don't do anything at all Go ask Alice When she's ten...