http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk A website about development, social policy and anything else that takes my fancy Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:03:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Richard's Real Estate and Urban Economics Blog: Is it housing or is it Boston? I think Richard Green gets it right: "National house prices did follow income closely between 1970 and 2000, while according to Robert Shiller, they grew only by the rate of inflation before that. I wonder if the reason ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=924 BBC News - Petraeus: Koran burning plan will endanger US troops Something not quite right in this sentence: "Pastor Terry Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center, plans to put copies of the holy book in a bonfire to mark this week's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks." (tags: nutters) Rafael Benítez is brilliant but ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=923 SSRN-Explaining the Housing Bubble by Adam Levitin, Susan Wachter "This Article posits a new explanation for the housing bubble. It demonstrates that the bubble was a supply-side phenomenon, attributable to an excess of mispriced mortgage finance: mortgage finance spreads declined and volume increased, even as risk increased, a confluence attributable only ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=922 Is aid welcome in Africa? « Waylaid Dialectic According to Africans, yes. (tags: africa aid) Africans do not want or need Britain’s development aid - Aid Watchers Weird. When any group of bigwigs comes along claiming to represent the views of Africans in favour of overseas aid, Bill Easterly and co. at Aid Watch ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=921 The right-wing cure for human misery: More pain - How the World Works - Salon.com Andrew Leonard joins the head-shaking at Robert Barro's latest helpful suggestion. (tags: free-marketeers macroeconomics) Measuring the output responses to fiscal policy | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists Makes sense: "This column considers the influence of ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=920 Marginal Revolution: The Small Schools Myth Beautifully illustrated example of how randomness plus small populations make for uncertain comparisons. (tags: science) BBC News - Chronicling the many accents of New York Nice to see William Labov interviewed on the subject. (tags: language new_york) Koch Self-Pity Update | The New Republic Life sure is tough when you're a ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=919 Reinventing Urban Transport: Parking prices from a different angle Fascinating comparison of office costs and parking costs in a cross-section of cities. Seems to me that those cities which have a relatively high parking cost to office cost ratio have a better street scene as a result. (tags: cities transport planning) http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=918 The Irish Economy » Blog Archive » Trichet on Ricardian Equivalence Karl Whelan: "I think it’s worth noting that the Ricardian equivalence idea put forward by Barro—that consumers see deficits and taxes as basically the same thing—has been tested many many times. And the general consensus on this, as I understand it, ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=917 Creative Class » Blog Archive » Toronto's Geography of Class - Creative Class "Toronto’s geography reflects a city that has become almost completely post-industrial: There are very, very few districts left in the city where working class jobs are the dominant concentration." (tags: geography cities) Fannie / Freddie Acquitted «  Modeled Behavior "In short, ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=916 London Cycle Hire Explorer : System Availability Trend in availability of London Cycle Hire bikes, over the last 24 hours, week and month. By Tom Taylor. (tags: london cycling) But Narayana Kocherlakota Was Supposed to Be the Really Smart and Reality-Based Minnesota Economist! - Grasping Reality with Both Hands "This was something that John ... http://blog.ctrlbreak.co.uk/?p=915