Volume 3, Issue 9

Despite the appearances to the contrary, survey evidence by Robert Whaples suggests that economists agree on a wide range of policy issues from free trade to educational vouchers. Climate change and Social Security remain areas of disagreement.

Proposition 87 reemphasized that Americans don't want the cost of driving to increase: Aaron Edlin suggests a way to reduce driving that may be more politically palatable.

Ariel Rubinstein gives his answer to Freakonomics.

Robin Pope argues that Kotlikoff is right to favor shifting payroll taxes to sales taxes only Kotlikoff fails to mention all the benefits that would be obtained by the shift. One of these benefits would be aiding employment by shifting the burden of risk bearing from firms to governments that can shoulder the risk burden at a lower cost than most firms can because of their risk pooling abilities.

Patrick Butler argues that Aaron Edlin's case for converting auto insurance to cents-per-odometer-mile prices would be made more compelling if he developed Vickrey's further assessment that current insurance pricing limits car ownership, particularly among the poor.

According to Mary Pope-Handy, the residents of Silicon Valley oppose urban sprawl for many reasons, but not, contrary to what John M. Quigley asserts, to keep housing scarce and prices high.

According to Peter Nagelhout, pay-as-you-drive automobile insurance could improve the efficiency of the insurance market and improve public safety. It probably will not reduce pollution or oil consumption.