Opinion

AI, job loss and productivity growth

It is really painful to see the regular flow of pieces debating whether AI will lead to mass unemployment. Invariably, these pieces are written as though the author has taken an oath that they have no knowledge of economics whatsoever.What percent of jobs were affected by computers? The answer would...

Opinion

The future of vehicle prices

On a lazy Friday afternoon, a person’s thoughts naturally turn to car price indexes. There actually is a reason that I became interested in this topic. I noticed that in the January Consumer Price Index, the new vehicle index rose 0.2 percent. The December measure was revised up due to new sea...

Opinion

Moderna’s $130 vaccine and the path to cheap drugs

According to news reports, Moderna is considering a price in the range of $110 to $130 for shots of its Covid booster. People may recall that we paid Moderna close to $450 million to develop its Covid vaccine. We then paid another $450 million for the clinical trials that were needed to determine it...