Wrap Up for June 2021

By some estimates, there could be nearly a trillion dollars in deferred infrastructure maintenance.

Are we "better off"? It's complicated.

The politically homeless: "Last year marked the first time that there were more people registered as independents in the U.S. than Republicans or Democrats."

Pandemic circumstance turned broadband access into a necessity.

A closer look at the natural real rate and inflation expectations.

Lots of workers remain on the sidelines. Scott Sumner also considers the labour supply shock. Cyril Morong notes recent job gains for 25 to 54 year olds.

Why is the U.S. still so attached to timber for home building?

Not your average economic recovery.

A new safeguard to address sharp spikes in money market rates.

Part of the mismatch between employers and prospective employees, comes down to location.

It's been difficult for those with strong allergic reactions to the vaccine, to get definitive answers.

Much of the scarcity this time around, is artificial.

World trade is picking up more rapidly than expected. But there are regional disparities.

Some commodity prices are simply returning to pre-pandemic levels.

John Kay's book recommendations for "economics in the real world".

Given the unusual character of employment losses in the Covid recession, NGDP targeting should logically take a pause, but resume a normal path in the near future.

Markets are also spaces for social relationships.

Once again the Electoral College is under scrutiny.

When "enhancing consumer choice" is actually a betrayal of private property rights.

Addressing regional divides.

Wikipedia is more influential than some of us imagined.

Using Medicare's already fragile funding sources for this new drug: What were they thinking?

Adam Tooze touches on inflation basics, then discusses the Weimar hyperinflation.

 A Fed rule proposal to maintain nominal stability.

In many instances, women have been working all along.

Inflation: Which is transitory, and which is persistent?

"The untapped potential of less"

Practicality is making efficient use of the resources we already have.

A different approach is needed for the severely disabled.

"It seems that we approve of boundless intellectual property for nice people and no IP at all for scoundrels."

Milton Friedman did much to change the trajectory of monetary policy. He also stressed that monetary tools couldn't be used to address real targets.

Finally, progress in rights to repair.

"If you think of involuntary unemployment as being at the heart of recessions, you should start from a sticky wage framework, not a sticky price framework."

Will boarding houses make a return as affordable housing options? And last year, average household size increased for the first time in over 160 years.

On productive disagreement.

Housing in the seventies, versus now: similarities and differences.

Is industry concentration rising?

How could we regain our enthusiasm for the future?

Some unexpected leverage for low wage workers.

Training teams for mental health emergencies.

An unexpected price point for willingness to change behavior.

Social Security won't be an easy fix this time.

The shrinking role of the U.S. in global auto markets.

"Transformational cost reduction would have to come from changing what we think a house is." Also, "Why It's Hard to Innovate in Construction" Plus, "Why Did Agriculture Mechanize and Not Construction?"

The pandemic has affected our friendships.

Jason Furman and David Beckworth discuss fiscal possibilities in an era of low interest rates.

Balance as loyalty to group in exchange for freedom. 

What's behind the urge to quit? Also, some unemployed aren't coming back.

Peter Boettke remembers Steve Horwitz.

Water scarcity as a "classic externality risk."

Frozen Foods Brought Economic and Cultural Change

As it turns out, frozen foods came with unanticipated effects which are still relevant. Once electrification transformed factory production, it also made widespread refrigeration feasible, which ultimately led to frozen foods manufacture. A quick Google search further elaborates:

During the 1940s, the volume of frozen foods available to consumers boomed. It wasn't until the 1950s, though, that the first frozen ready meals hit the shelves in the United States.

Once frozen meals made their way into our homes, the production based expectations of our interpersonal relationships began to dramatically shift. Not only did time use patterns change among those primarily responsible for kitchen duties, but also other family members - particularly for families with limited incomes. Even now, frozen foods in the form of prepared meals, remain one of the simplest cost effective ways to "save time" in the course of a day. 

However one trade-off in these recent changes, is that many processed frozen foods aren't necessarily healthy! Even so, frozen foods are valuable production and consumption options, since they promote personal autonomy by freeing more time for daily routines. Further, the trade-off decisions involved for optimal health versus time saving convenience, are a reminder how personal health involves more time based commitments, than today's healthcare systems can readily provide. 

There was also a cultural trade-off, in terms of the ambivalence surrounding what women could accomplish with their newfound freedom from domestic responsibilities. How might gender relationships change, once women experienced new lifestyle options? 

What was perhaps not widely recognized, is that women were only a part of this changed cultural equation. For one, frozen foods manufacture has given real benefits to men insofar as their own preferences for meals. Equally important is how young, old, and disabled individuals became able to assume more central and often desired roles in kitchen responsibilities. Nevertheless, some of us still love to cook from scratch, even though due to market evolution, cooking is no longer highly valued as a practical skill. Basically that means we end up having to eat more of the leftovers ourselves!

Consider what these changed realities also suggest, regarding other domestic burdens many still face. In particular, some individuals with limited income, lack the stamina to fully maintain dwellings which have yet to benefit from new technology. Only imagine, how innovation in building design and manufacture, might one day alter this unfortunate reality. Once individuals with limited means become better able to take care of needed renovations, their non economic time value would also be improved. Granted, frozen foods manufacture reduced non economic time value for many women. Hopefully these individuals (and countless others) can one day regain value for their non economic time, so as to master their environments with less need of expensive services and other assistance.   

In all of this, technological advances have changed social expectations and there's no going back to earlier cultural realities. This is relevant for both the right and left. Indeed, consider how many individuals of both sexes come to prefer cooking for one, to the compromises involved in routinely sharing meals with others. Likewise, some forget that a truly healthy diet includes more hours in the kitchen than what might be possible. Perhaps these are moments when one can at least cut some fruit and cook some fresh vegetables on the stove, to go with that prepared frozen entree which only needs to be briefly heated in the microwave.