Austrian and Neoclassical Economics: Any Gains from Trade?

By Sherwin Rosen

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

The systems aspects of Austrian economic thought pertaining to the process of competition deserve a prominent place in modern economic thinking. The paper develops the differences between the Austrian view of competition as an evolutionary process, and th...

Austrian Economics, Neoclassicism, and the Market Test

By Leland B. Yeager

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

Professor Sherwin Rosen correctly suggests that the Austrian and neoclassical schools can be complementary, each accepting much from the other. However his recognition of Austrian strengths needs to be amplified and his criticisms need softening. His appe...

Progress in Behavioral Game Theory

By Colin F. Camerer

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

Behavioral game theory aims to predict how people actually behave by incorporating psychological elements and learning into game theory. With this goal in mind, experimental findings can be organized into three categories: players have systematic 'recipro...

Retrospectives: The Economics of Leon Hirsch Keyserling

By W. Robert Brazelton

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

The economics of Leon H. Keyserling influenced the Roosevelt era in terms of housing, agriculture, labor, and antitrust legislation. During the Truman era, discussed herein, Keyserling was influential as chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, stressin...

Policy Watch: Medicaid and Uninsured Women and Children

By Jonathan Gruber

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

This paper focuses on the role of Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low income populations, as a means of reducing uninsurance among uninsured women and children. The author discusses the structure of the Medicaid program and recent findin...

Classroom Games: Voluntary Provision of a Public Good

By Charles A. Holt and Susan K. Laury

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

This paper describes a simple public goods game, implemented with playing cards in a classroom setup. Students choose whether to contribute to the provision of a public good in a situation where it is privately optimal not to contribute, but socially opti...

Recommendations for Further Reading

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

Correspondence

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

Notes

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

Index by Author to Volume 11

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

Front Matter

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1997

Consumer Prices, the Consumer Price Index, and the Cost of Living

[Symposium: Measuring the CPI]

By Michael J. Boskin, Ellen L. Dulberger, Robert J. Gordon, Zvi Griliches, and Dale W. Jorgenson

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

After presenting major findings and recommendations, the CPI Commission reiterates the estimate of a 1.1 percentage point per annum upward bias. It rejects the contention that the BLS already makes substantial corrections for quality change; that quality ...

Working to Improve the Consumer Price Index

[Symposium: Measuring the CPI]

By Katharine G. Abraham, John S. Greenlees, and Brent R. Moulton

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

In this paper, we first comment on the recent (1996) report of the Advisory Commission to Study the Consumer Price Index, appointed by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and the recommendations it contains. We then describe some of the initiatives current...

Getting Prices Right: What Should Be Done?

[Symposium: Measuring the CPI]

By Angus Deaton

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Much of the profession accepts that the CPI likely overstates the rate of increase of the cost-of-living. It is less clear that there are sound and feasible steps that the BLS can adopt to improve matters in the short run. There are unresolved conceptual ...

Index Number Issues in the Consumer Price Index

[Symposium: Measuring the CPI]

By W. Erwin Diewert

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

This paper addresses the following issues: what is an appropriate theoretical consumer price index that statistical agencies should attempt to measure; what are some of the possible sources of biases between the fixed base Laspeyres price index that stati...

Quality Change in Price Indexes

[Symposium: Measuring the CPI]

By William D. Nordhaus

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Price indexes provide the fundamental building blocks for measuring the general price level along with real incomes and real output. But the most important single price index for the United States, the CPI, has been criticized as significantly underestima...

The Consumer Price Index: A Research Agenda and Three Proposals

[Symposium: Measuring the CPI]

By Robert A. Pollak

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

This paper argues that dealing with current concerns about the CPI within the framework of economic theory requires developing the theory of the cost-of-living index under more general assumptions than have thus far been standard. It examines three neglec...

Did We Lose the War on Poverty?

[Symposium: Measuring Poverty]

By Dale W. Jorgenson

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Official U.S. poverty statistics based on household income imply that the proportion of the U.S. population below the poverty level reached a minimum in 1973, giving rise to the widespread impression that the elimination of poverty is impossible. By contr...

Has Poverty Gotten Worse?

[Symposium: Measuring Poverty]

By Robert K. Triest

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

The official U.S. government figures showed an increase in the poverty rate from 11.1 percent in 1973 to 13.8 percent in 1995. However, some maintain that this upward trend is due to defects in the official poverty measure. This paper analyzes alternative...

Job Displacement

By Lori G. Kletzer

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

The past decade and a half has seen tremendous research growth in the area of job displacement. This paper discusses the state of knowledge on the issues and questions of job loss. The 1984-96 Displaced Worker Surveys are used to describe how the characte...