Category: Economics

Categories
Economics Society

[932] Of Malaysia, truly Asia

Might be a year late but I can’t get the Malaysia truly Asia song out of my mind. So, I’m immortalizing it here:

Everything I’ve wanted, all that I’ve asked of you.
Everything I’ve dreamed of, it’s all coming true.
So stay with me (with me), as we walk hand in hand.

Malaysia, truly Asia,
The mountains and the sea.
Malaysia, truly Asia,
It’s calling out, to you and me.
Malaysia, truly Asia.

Whoever that came up with that tagline, the song and the ad is a genius. Too bad, I’ve never seen it on the TV in the United States and only saw it when I came back to Malaysia.

What I think is this: the ad should be shown abroad, not in Malaysia.

What I further think is this: But things like the moral police won’t help by one bit. No song will undo the damage done by the moral police. Already, it’s hurting the economy and effort to build a more diverse and rich Malaysian society:

LANGKAWI: Retired American policeman Randal Barnhart, who was subjected to a 2am raid by religious enforcement officers, is reconsidering his plan to make Malaysia his second home.

“After that unpleasant episode two weeks ago, I do not feel like making Malaysia my second home. It is a pity because both my wife and I really love Langkawi,” he said.

I say it again. We need to disband the moral police.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s — Okay. Apparently this particular entry get lots of hit and I figure people are probably looking for the actual song. So, enjoy.

[youtube]nSqI9_pmqOc[/youtube]

Categories
Economics

[927] Of pornography reduces rape?

I woke this morning with a totally unexpected result from an econometric model. Todd Kendall of Clemson University found out that (*.pdf; via via via!):

The arrival of the internet caused a large decline in both the pecuniary and non-pecuniary costs of accessing pornography. Using state-level panel data from 1998-2003, I find that the arrival of the internet was associated with a reduction in rape incidence. However, growth in internet usage had no apparent effect on other crimes. Moreover, when I disaggregate the rape data by offender age, I find that the effect of the internet on rape is concentrated among those for whom the internet-induced fall in the non-pecuniary price of pornography was the largest — men ages 15-19, who typically live with their parents. These results, which suggest that pornography and rape are substitutes, are in contrast with most previous literature. However, earlier population-level studies do not control adequately for many omitted variables, including the age distribution of the population, and most laboratory studies simply do not allow for potential substitutability between pornography and rape.

Hey you. Yeah, you the reader. I know what you’re thinking…

Anyway, blogging professors are way too cool!

Categories
Economics Society

[914] Of religion-based tax breaks

The New York Times has four interesting articles on how religious organizations, especially Christian-based, are getting unfair advantages over other bodies; in some instance, at others’ expense. Those four articles are:

  1. As Exemptions Grow, Religion Outweighs Regulation
  2. Where Faith Abides, Employees Have Few Rights
  3. Religious Programs Expand, So Do Tax Breaks
  4. Religion-Based Tax Breaks: Housing to Paychecks to Books

The most objectable example in the four articles this is: a Bible-based theme park gets tax-exemption because it’s religion-related. Imagine that – a tax-free theme park. I’d call that abusing the system.

I see religious body as just another non-profit organizations. If such religious body starts to run a business — like running a theme park, regardless the theme — they should pay tax like everybody else.

Categories
Economics Environment

[912] Of legalizing turtle eggs collection

A Terengganu state official earlier was quoted saying that the state government plans to legalize the collection of turtle eggs through the issuance of permit. An article at the BBC says environmentalists are calling the plan as plain crazy. I’m unsure what to think of the plan.

I recognize the fact that a ban more often than not isn’t a solution. A ban usually has an unintended consequence; it creates perverse incentive:

“Banning the sale of eggs will not solve the problem as it could encourage poaching and the high price for the eggs could worsen the problem.

“The next best thing to do is to license the egg sellers to control the number of eggs that can be sold each season. We will look into this seriously.”

In short, the issuance of permit would theoretically lower the prices of the eggs and discourage eggs trading in the black market.

While it’s good to know that the official knows his economics, like what I’ve said earlier, I’m unsure where I stand on this issue.

For the policy to be successful, prices have to be lowered to a point where trading in the black market is unattractive. Assuming constant demand, the only way to do that is to increase supply. The permit system does exactly that; it increases legal supply from zero to some positive figure.

I’d only support the policy in a specific way. That is, the ultimate goal of permit allocation is the survival of the species. Please refer to the graph that I’ve prepared below:

Some rights reserved.

Currently, it’s clear that the turtle population is in between point 0 and A. Given that, I’d support the issuance of permit if the harvest rate — in this case, the number of permits issued — is below the growth rate. I’d disagree to the issuance of permit if the harvest rate is above the growth rate.

The reason behind my opinion is apparent in the graph. Assuming the growth rate is in between 0A and the harvest rate is A, such practice would drive the species into extinction. This is because the harvest rate is greater than the growth rate. In effect, there’s a negative net growth. If the growth rate is in between AB while the harvest rate is A, that would enable the species to recover as well as accommodate for human consumption.

Just to explain the graph further, point 0, A and C are the equilibrium points. 0 of course is extinction point while both A and C are where harvest and growth rates are equal to each other.

I wonder though how large an increase in supply do we need to make black market trading unattractive. If the increase is too big and eventually forces harvest rate to be greater than the growth rate, this would be a foolish policy.

Categories
Economics

[909] Of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize goes to economics!

Just hours after I wrote about this year’s Prize in Economics, here comes the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winners.

The Prize is awarded jointly to Muhammad Yunus — the founder of Grameen Bank and the inventor of micro-credit — and Grameen Bank win the Nobel Peace Prize!

Excellent choice!

Last year, it was a tribute to physics. This year, it’s economics.