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181. Determinants of Recent Online Purchasing and the Percentage of Income Spent Online

Author:
Kristina M. Lybecker and Brendan Hannah
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Economics and Business, Colorado College
Abstract:
The recent stagnation of electronic commerce highlights the need to understand contemporary online consumer behavior. This study incorporates current user demographics and emerging Internet activities to dynamically model the determinants of two key measurements of recent online shopping, a purchase within the last year and the novel dependent variable, percentage of income spent online in the last three months. Logistic regression is applied to a nationally representative 2007 survey of the U.S. online population. Determinants of a recent online purchase include, ownership of a credit card, an online payment account (PayPalTM), listening to podcasts, participating in online auctions, and for the first time, female gender. In a second regression, positive determinants for the percentage of income spent online include male gender, educational attainment, online auctions, instant messenging and online dating. Online spending increases with time online and appears to compete with other forms of online entertainment and social networking.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, Markets, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

182. Blood Oil in the Niger Delta

Author:
Judith Burdin Asuni
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The trade in stolen oil, or “blood oil,” poses an immense challenge to the Nigerian state, harming its economy and fueling a long-running insurgency in the Niger Delta. It also undermines security in the Gulf of Guinea and adds to instability on world energy markets. The exact amount of oil stolen per day in the Niger Delta is unknown, but it is somewhere between 30,000 and 300,000 barrels. The loss to the Nigerian economy from illegal oil bunkering between 2003 and 2008 totals approximately US$100 billion. It is time for the international community to become more proactive in helping Nigeria address this complex issue. Efforts to control blood oil must be accompanied by actions against corruption, illegal arms importation, and money laundering. The enabling environment for illegal oil bunkering includes high levels of unemployed youth, armed ethnic militias, ineffective and corrupt law enforcement officials, protective government officials and politicians, corrupt oil company staff, established international markets for stolen oil, and the overall context of endemic corruption. The three types of illegal oil bunkering include small-scale pilfering for the local market, large-scale tapping of pipelines to fill large tankers for export, and excess lifting of crude oil beyond the licensed amount. The complexity of players in the illegal oil bunkering business, including local youth, members of the Nigerian military and political class, and foreign ship owners, makes it difficult to tackle the problem unilaterally. Previous attempts by the Nigerian government and international community to address illegal oil bunkering have had limited success in reducing the flow of blood oil. The problem of blood oil needs to be addressed multilaterally. Within the international community, the United States is uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in helping to dry up blood oil and address other issues in the Niger Delta.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Markets, Oil, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Nigeria, and Guinea

183. The Gloomy Prospects for World Growth

Author:
Steven Dunaway
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The seeds of the current economic and financial crisis were sown by economic policies of the major countries that fostered the growth of global imbalances during the 2000s. Consequently, an essential element in any assessment of prospects for world economic recovery and the pace of future growth has to factor in exactly how these imbalances are likely to unwind—or fail to be resolved—in the period immediately ahead.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States

184. Beyond Market Forces: Regulating the Global Security Industry

Author:
James Cockayne, Emily Speers Mears, Alison Gurin, Iveta Cherneva, Sheila Oviedo, and Dylan Yaeger
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
In late 2008, seventeen states, including the US, UK, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, and others, endorsed the Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices for States related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies during Armed Conflict (2008). This provides important guidance to states in regulating private military and security companies (PMSCs). However, there is a need to do more, to provide increased guidance to the industry and ensure standards are enforced.
Topic:
Security, Globalization, Markets, International Security, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, China, Iraq, and United Kingdom

185. How Urban Planners Caused the Housing Bubble

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Everyone agrees that the recent financial crisis started with the deflation of the housing bubble. But what caused the bubble? Answering this question is important both for identifying the best short-term policies and for fixing the credit crisis, as well as for developing long-term policies aimed at preventing another crisis in the future.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States, California, and Georgia

186. Halfway to Where? Answering the Key Questions of Health Care Reform

Author:
Michael Tanner
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Although neither the House nor the Senate passed a health care bill by President Obama's August deadline, various pieces of legislation have made it through committee, and they provide a concrete basis for analyzing what the proposed health care reform would and would not do. Looking at the various bills that are moving on Capitol Hill, we can determine the following: Contrary to the Obama administration's repeated assurances, millions of Americans who are happy with their current health insurance will not be able to keep it. As many as 89.5 million people may be dumped into a government-run plan. Some Americans may find themselves forced into a new insurance plan that no longer includes their current doctor. Americans will pay more than $820 billion in additional taxes over the next 10 years, and could see their insurance premiums rise as much as 95 percent. The current health care bills will increase the budget deficit by at least $239 billion over the next 10 years, and far more in the years beyond that. If the new health care entitlement were subject to the same 75-year actuarial standards as Social Security or Medicare, its unfunded liabilities would exceed $9.2 trillion. While the bills contain no direct provisions for rationing care, they nonetheless increase the likelihood of government rationing and interference with how doctors practice medicine. Contrary to assertions of some opponents, the bills contain no provision for euthanasia or mandatory end-of-life counseling. The bills' provisions on abortion coverage are far murkier.
Topic:
Government, Health, Human Welfare, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

187. Would a Stricter Fed Policy and Financial Regulation Have Averted the Financial Crisis?

Author:
Jagadeesh Gokhale and Peter Van Doren
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Many commentators have argued that if the Federal Reserve had followed a stricter monetary policy earlier this decade when the housing bubble was forming, and if Congress had not deregulated banking but had imposed tighter financial standards, the housing boom and bust—and the subsequent financial crisis and recession—would have been averted. In this paper, we investigate those claims and dispute them. We are skeptical that economists can detect bubbles in real time through technical means with any degree of unanimity. Even if they could, we doubt the Fed would have altered its policy in the early 21st century, and we suspect that political leaders would have exerted considerable pressure to maintain that policy. Concerning regulation, we find that the banking reform of the late 1990s had little effect on the housing boom and bust, and that the many reform ideas currently proposed would have done little or nothing to avert the crisis.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States

188. Yes, Mr. President: A Free Market Can Fix Health Care

Author:
Michael F. Cannon
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In March 2009, President Barack Obama said, “If there is a way of getting this done where we're driving down costs and people are getting health insurance at an affordable rate, and have choice of doctor, have flexibility in terms of their plans, and we could do that entirely through the market, I'd be happy to do it that way.” This paper explains how letting workers control their health care dollars and tearing down regulatory barriers to competition would control costs, expand choice, improve health care quality, and make health coverage more secure.
Topic:
Economics, Health, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States

189. All the President's Mandates: Compulsory Health Insurance Is a Government Takeover

Author:
Michael F. Cannon
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The most hazardous health reform measure before Congress is not the so-called "public option," but proposals to make health insurance compulsory via an individual or employer mandate. Compulsory health insurance could require nearly 100 million Americans to switch to a more expensive health plan and would therefore violate President Barack Obama's pledge to let people keep their current health insurance. In particular, the legislation before Congress could eliminate many or all health savings account plans. Making health insurance compulsory would also spark an unnecessary fight over abortion and would enable government to ration care to those with private health insurance.
Topic:
Government, Health, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

190. Credit Crunch Watch

Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxford Economics
Abstract:
The financial stress indicator is a composite index of a number of indicators including risk spreads, mortgage spreads, equity volatility, commercial paper and commercial loans outstanding and the spread of LIBOR rates over T-bill rates (the “Ted” spread). The stress indicator fell again last week, driven by a further narrowing of corporate bond spreads and lower equity volatility. These shifts offset a rise in 30-year mortgage spreads. Stress levels are now at their lowest levels since February 2008, and while still well above their long-term average have also dropped below the levels seen in previous periods of distress such as in the early 1990s and in 2001- 2003.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States