Why big business needs unemployment benefits. 'Many business leaders are shrugging off the forthcoming expiration of extended unemployment benefits, but they may regret it. In this downturn, every little bit of extra money in consumer pockets counts.' 'Steve Burd, the CEO of Safeway (SWY), told an analyst during the company's last earnings call that he did not think temporary benefits provided a meaningful boost to consumer confidence. "There are those that would argue that unemployment benefits, the longer they are, the longer people stay unemployed," said Burd, whose supermarket chain did $41 billion in sales last year. The CEO went on to cite the theory that extending unemployment insurance artificially props up wages, slowing the pace of economic recovery.' 'Some Republicans have already come out against renewing the emergency aid. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is currently running for president, recently said that he thought it was "fundamentally wrong to give people money for 99 weeks for doing nothing."' [more inside]
posted by VikingSword on Oct 1, 2011 - 85 comments

A games and economic theory argument against intellectual property. Watt's on first in academic paper.
posted by klangklangston on Jun 21, 2007 - 42 comments

My cattle grazing grounds are not my idea and vice versa. But thanks to laws I can "own" the idea as if the idea was a cow ; link goes to a interesting university-level paper [PDF]. The author makes some interesting analysis and points attention to the fact that current intellectual property laws can go against well established economic theories at the expense of free market competition theory, technical innovations and society-as-a-whole best interest.

Recommended to people with economic theory experience , but also to everyday public-goods-privatization opposers as the paper isn't (intentionally) way too technical.
posted by elpapacito on Sep 10, 2004 - 4 comments