EconoRap Wish-List
Sure seems like we can't get enough of these guys:
I know I can't. And I want more.
I bet I'm not alone. But what should economists rap about next? (I apologize in advance for conflating rap and hip-hop -- there's a difference, I'm sure, but I plead white and nerdy.)
If I got to choose, it would be regulatory capture. Hip-hoppin' Hayek alludes to regulatory capture a few times, like when he says, "Oversight? The government’s long been in bed / With the Wall Street execs and the firms that they’ve led." But to my mind, allusion isn't enough:
In my experience, most folks understand the danger of regulatory capture -- once they know what it is. But they usually see regulatory capture as no more than "naughty" people "bending the rules" -- that if "good" people were in charge, or if even more rules were issued, regulatory capture would cease to be a problem.
They fail to see that the more effort that must be put into complying with regulations, the more incentive there is for the regulated to capture the agency issuing the regulations, and the more likely regulatory capture becomes.
Once regulation reaches a critical mass, regulatory capture is inevitable... To hope otherwise is to expect men to behave as angels (but if men were angels, why would we need regulations to begin with?).
I get that if you didn't think it through, the proposition that you'd get better compliance by easing regulatory burden, rather than increasing it, would seem too nutso to be worth even a minute's consideration. But if people don't think this one through...
I could swear my fifth-grade teacher once started to read us a story that began by the world being destroyed in a blizzard of paperwork. We never finished that story, but it couldn't have ended well.
Anyhow, enough of my fantasy. What are you wishing for in the next economic music video?
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
MFR, I don't have a specific answer for your question, but it's great to have you back. We've all been wondering!
Sep '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Glad you posted this video. I love them too. Your idea is a good one. I don't think most people have a clue how prevalent and harmful it is. Moral hazard is another idea. I doubt that any of the current or former executives who ran their companies into the ground believed ahead of time that they'd need the bailout but the existence of moral hazard destroyed the payoff to prudence for a long time.
Mar '11
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Regulation would be a great subject.
Jan '11
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
I wished they would have put a Don King wig on Bernanke.
Aug '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Ooh, ooh, moral hazard! Great idea! Wish I had thought of it!
Hip-hop Hayek alludes to moral hazard when he says, "Capitalism’s about profit and loss / you bail out the losers there’s no end to the cost." But you're totally right that this is another case where simple allusion isn't enough.
Aug '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Dunno that Bernanke needs it... shady enough already...
Feb '11
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Rent-seeking is my choice. It drives me crazy.
Here is a great Dilbert strip regarding regulatory capture.
Apr '11
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
An awesome video!
Oct '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
The assumption is that since markets sometimes fail, that government intervention such as regulation is justified to correct the market failure. But this assumes that the intervention will be executed flawlessly, as if the politicians and bureaucrats are some heavenly group of people who are immune from responding to the perverse incentives they face. Yes markets may sometimes fail, but markets are also the best, most efficient and least costly way to correct those failures.
Edited on May 1, 2011 at 11:10amAug '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Another good one! I like you, Other Conor.
Am I crazy, or does the vicious cycle of rent-seeking smell a little like the Tragedy of the Commons?
(I could just be crazy. I keep sniffing tragedies of the commons like the little boy in "The Sixth Sense" sees dead people.)
Apr '11
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Creative destruction? It is a lesson a lot of people could use learning. While on the topic, I'd like to give a quick plug, Russ Roberts has a podcast at econtalk.org once a week, if you'd like to learn more about economics it is an excellent place to start.
Aug '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Darn tootin'. And it ties in with moral hazard, dunnit? Certainly, bailouts cause the one and prevent the other... I'd bet, in general, the more you have of one, the less you have of the other.
Uh-oh, I should add this to my to-do list for the summer. Thanks!
Why did I ever think economics was boring?
Oct '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
Here, here. I listen every week, and regularly listen to the archived episodes. My goal is to listen to every episode, there are about 250...about half way done.
Edited on May 1, 2011 at 5:29pmNov '10
Re: EconoRap Wish-List
To answer a completely different question: As far as I know, rap is a vocal style; hip-hop is a style of music. One can rap over other forms of music (rap+metal was the "next big thing" at the turn of the century) and one can sing melodically over hip-hop (see 90% of modern R&B.) I believe there's even instrumental hip-hop.
Then again, I am presumably equally white and probably even nerdier than you, so I could be wrong.