RE: [Pen-l] Re: The Mirage of Economic Efficiency

["Perelman, Michael" <MPerelman@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Like many of you, I was a bit dismayed when Obama turned to Robert Rubin
and his coterie for economic advice. I now admit that I was mistaken.
According to Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, Citicorp has been paying
Robert Rubin $17 million a year for a part-time job with no
responsibility. Judging by the company's performance, the expectations
placed on him might not be particularly high.

My full-time teaching job leaves me little spare time, but I think I
could put aside a few hours each week in return for $17 million.  I
would be willing to take a pay cut in return for cutting back a few
extra hours.

If you're like me, and think that you would want an opportunity like
that, I would hope that Pres. Obama would enact policies that would give
everybody an opportunity like Robert Rubin.  With this in mind, I will
put myself an unofficial adviser to the Obama campaign, suggesting the
slogan: Rubinomics for the People.

Go Barak!


Julio wrote

The concept of "efficiency" you criticize is the static one.  Today,
that's used only to show undergrad students some very basic results.
It's a pedagogical device.  Perhaps it was taken seriously when
Stigler was young -- and ignorant of other people's work?  But then,
in 1928, Ramsey published his mathematical theory of saving.  And in
1931, Hotelling published his economics of exhaustible resources.
Nowadays, everybody knows that efficiency is dynamic.  And on top of
that, economists know that uncertainty, information issues, and a host
of issues make a difference in the interpretation of efficiency.  With
all due respect, I don't see the point of such qualms.







Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901
www.michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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