What is (and isn't) funny about economics
Here’s a photo journal of the 2008 trip to Israel that Dad and I went on. (My only time there, his first time back in 50 years.) Click on any picture to read to accompanying text. And here's a photo journal of our 2021 Grand Canyon hike (down and back out!) when he was almost [...] The post Memorial service for my father, Joel Bauman appeared first on The Standup Economist .
Preface: This update now covers two bets: my 2014 bet with fellow economists Bryan Caplan and Alex Tabarrok (I bet that global temperatures would continue to rise through 2029, they bet for flatlining temperatures) and 2024 bet with Zeke Hausfather and Nick van Osdol about fossil fuel consumption (I bet that consumption of coal, oil, [...] The post 2026 update on my global warming “traffic light”…
Back in 2014 I made a global warming bet with fellow economists Bryan Caplan and Alex Tabarrok about global temperatures over the following 15 years (2015-2029) compared with the previous 15 years (2000-2014). The bet can be illustrated with this graphic, so I’m calling it our “traffic light” bet: The short version is that the red [...] The post 2025 update on my global warming “traffic light” bet…
After a successful premiere at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival in summer 2024 (videos and more at Yoram-Com.com), I’ve got three focal points for 2025: 1) In addition to trying to improve the play script, I’ve adapted it into a movie script because Chelsea Henderson of RepublicEn.org told me about this climate screenplay competition organized by NRDC. (Leonardo DiCaprio is [...] The post…
Hello economics comedy friends and fans! (This post is duplicated on my Substack, which is very occasional and always completely free!) In the next few years we’re going to be hearing a lot about Keynes’s hundred-year-old essay “Economic possibilities for our grandchildren” (1930), which predicted vastly higher living standards for much of humanity (correct!), a [...] The post My new play (a…
** Movie script and info ** Soundtrack ** Script reviews ** Stage play (2024) ** Movie script and info For the feature-length movie, here's the latest screenplay (movie) script (June 23, 2026). And here's a pitch deck in PDF (and in PPT, both from Feb 2026). The summary/logline: Saul puts the “action” into climate action, [...] The post Play / Screenplay: Seize The Initiative! appeared first on…
Please click here for details about my play, "Seize The Initiative: A romantic comedy about falling in love... with democracy"! The post Seize The Initiative appeared first on The Standup Economist .
Bryan Caplan was kind enough to introduce me to Alex Epstein, who was kind enough to send me a copy of his book, Fossil Future. I shared a draft of my review with Alex, and then he and I had a 2-week email exchange where we tried valiantly and in good faith to understand each [...] The post Five questions for Bryan Caplan appeared first on The Standup Economist .
There are at least two approaches to estimate the impact of the Climate Commitment Act on gas prices. They suggest price impacts of 19 to 61 cents per gallon, with the midpoint (about 40 cents per gallon) being a decent point estimate. The first approach is to look at the change in gas prices in [...] The post Estimating the impact of the Climate Commitment Act on gas prices appeared first on The…
Alex Epstein was kind enough to send me a copy of his book, Fossil Future. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it. Readers looking for a book that seriously considers the benefits as well as the risks of fossil fuel use should consider, for example, A Question of Balance, by Nobel Prize winning economist William Nordhaus. Although [...] The post Fossil Future comments appeared first on The Standup…