Ningún escritor narrativo del siglo XX ha contribuido tanto como George Orwell a nuestro lenguaje... more Ningún escritor narrativo del siglo XX ha contribuido tanto como George Orwell a nuestro lenguaje político contemporáneo, empezando por el uso de su propio nombre: hoy en día el adjetivo «orwelliano» forma parte integral del lenguaje cotidiano, y la comprensión del término implica necesariamente cierta familiaridad —aunque sea muy de segunda mano— con la obra narrativa. La influencia de Orwell sobrepasa con creces su difusión estrictamente literaria. Por otro lado, se trata de un autor paradójico. Aunque fue un socialista convencido hasta el final de su vida, su famosa novela 1984 constituye una dramática y conmovedora denuncia del peligro totalitario que yace latente en el sistema económico que él mismo pregonaba y defendía. Debido a esto, Orwell siempre fue un autor problemático para la izquierda. En círculos libertarios, en cambio, ha sido leído y estudiado con simpatía, y con buena razón, porque pocos escritores del siglo XX han contribuido tanto como él a nuestra comprensión de las condiciones para el florecimiento de una sociedad li-bre. Pocos escritores, asimismo, han señalado tan claramente las amenazas que constantemente la acechan, tanto de un extremo ideológico como del otro. No es un cliché, por tanto, decir que Orwell es un autor «relevante» para nuestros tiempos, y seguirá siéndolo mientras haya enemigos de la libertad. Es un autor que vale la pena estudiar con cierto detalle.
The notion of a secular decline in the terms of trade of primary producing countries is a persist... more The notion of a secular decline in the terms of trade of primary producing countries is a persistent theme in the public discussion of the problems of developing areas, and has been advanced most forcefully in the writtings of Raul Prebisch. A cceptance of such views is implicit in most critiques of the international economic order. However, upon reviewing the literature and available evidence, it is argued that such views are untenable, based as they are upon a faulty interpretation of the welfare implications of movements in the commodity or net barter terms of trade, an uncritical appraisal of the statistical biases involved in terms of trade estimates, and an overly selective survey of actual historical price trends.
The purpose of this study is to explain the statistical variation in economic growth rates in a b... more The purpose of this study is to explain the statistical variation in economic growth rates in a broad cross-section of countries, over the period 1980-99. This problem will be addressed within the framework of the so-called “growth-regression” approach, which seeks to explain this variation by relating economic growth to a list of potential explanatory variables. A large number of studies published since the early 1990’s have been based on the “neo-classical theory of economic growth,” and this approach will be followed as a first approximation, though the main purpose of the paper is to evaluate the incremental explanatory power of several additional variables not usually contemplated in the conventional neo-classical approach.
Salant (1969) complained that on many occasions he found the writing of his fellow economists “ne... more Salant (1969) complained that on many occasions he found the writing of his fellow economists “nearly incomprehensible,” and made suggestions to improve economists‟ writing skills (and, by extension, those of natural and social scientists in general). Among other things, he argued that good writers tend to use shorter words. We call this “the Salant hypothesis,” and use standard statistical techniques to test this claim by comparing the average length of words used by Nobel laureates in their banquet speeches. We find that Literature laureates tend to use shorter words than laureates in other disciplines, and the difference is statistically significant. These results support Salant‟s idea that words should be used efficiently. This includes using short words instead of longer ones whenever possible. In short, good writing is also “economical writing.”
Ningún escritor narrativo del siglo XX ha contribuido tanto como George Orwell a nuestro lenguaje... more Ningún escritor narrativo del siglo XX ha contribuido tanto como George Orwell a nuestro lenguaje político contemporáneo, empezando por el uso de su propio nombre: hoy en día el adjetivo "orwelliano" forma parte integral del lenguaje cotidiano, y la comprensión del término implica necesariamente cierta familiaridadaunque sea muy de segunda manocon la obra narrativa. La influencia de Orwell sobrepasa con creces su difusión estrictamente literaria. No poca cosa. 1
This paper uses a regression analysis to explore the cross-country variation in homicide rates fo... more This paper uses a regression analysis to explore the cross-country variation in homicide rates for a large sample of countries. It starts by identifying seven significant regional dummy variables, to which traditional socio-economic, cultural, and institutional variables are added and tested. The importance of institutions, culture, and other factors affecting homicide rates are discussed. One unexpected finding is a curious relationship between the level of education and homicide rates: while an increase in male education tends to reduce homicide rates, an increase in female education tends to increase homicides. Several possible interpretations for this phenomenon are proposed. The study points to relatively unexplored areas of research in order to better understand homicide variation around the world.
W.A. Wallis studied vacancies in the US Supreme
Court over a 96-year period (1837–1932) and foun... more W.A. Wallis studied vacancies in the US Supreme
Court over a 96-year period (1837–1932) and found
that the distribution of the number of vacancies per
year could be characterized by a Poisson model.
This note updates this classic study.
This paper comments on some recent trends in intellectual property law, emphasizing two recent US... more This paper comments on some recent trends in intellectual property law, emphasizing two recent US laws, the “Sonny Bono Law” and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), both of 1998. The former extended the duration of copyrights by 20 years, and its constitutionality was challenged in a recent Supreme Court case. The latter eliminates, in the digital sphere, two distinctions that have been important in this field: (1) unauthorized reproduction versus illegal reproduction, and (2) the act of making unauthorized copies versus the act of creating the technology that enables such copying. Also, the manner in which the DMCA has been implemented poses serious questions regarding the jurisdiction of different national laws in this area. In view of these trends, it seems entirely legitimate to question whether copyright is really justified in a free society.
Milton Friedman, quien falleció en la madrugada del 16 de Noviembre, 2006, era mundialmente famos... more Milton Friedman, quien falleció en la madrugada del 16 de Noviembre, 2006, era mundialmente famoso como economista, y como defensor de la economía de mercado libre. Gran parte de su celebridad derivaba de su actividad como intelectual público, un aspecto de su obra que se reflejaba mayormente en libros populares, tales como Capitalismo y Libertad (1962) y el tremendamente exitoso Libertad de Elegir (1980)-ambos escritos conjuntamente con su esposa, Rose (y el segundo basado en la serie televisiva del mismo título)-y en las columnas de opinión que escribió durante muchos años para la revista Newsweek.
Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the world-famous author of Capitalism and Freedom (1962) and Free to... more Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the world-famous author of Capitalism and Freedom (1962) and Free to Choose (1980), was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, and his memory will live long in the lore of economics. To mark the centenary of his birth, Laissez-Faire is pleased to publish this bibliography, the most complete listing to date of his scholarly writings. It provides both an indication of the breadth of his interests, and a measure of the magnitude of his contribution to economic scholarship.
Like mathematicians and medical scientists, economists have contributed a fair share to the world... more Like mathematicians and medical scientists, economists have contributed a fair share to the world’s stock of scientific concepts named after their founders. The proof is the wonderful book An Eponymous Dictionary of Economics: A Guide to Laws and Theorems Named after Economists (2004), edited by Julio Segura and Carlos Rodriguez, which provides detailed definitions and explanations for more than 300 eponymic expressions commonly used in economics.
Ningún escritor narrativo del siglo XX ha contribuido tanto como George Orwell a nuestro lenguaje... more Ningún escritor narrativo del siglo XX ha contribuido tanto como George Orwell a nuestro lenguaje político contemporáneo, empezando por el uso de su propio nombre: hoy en día el adjetivo «orwelliano» forma parte integral del lenguaje cotidiano, y la comprensión del término implica necesariamente cierta familiaridad —aunque sea muy de segunda mano— con la obra narrativa. La influencia de Orwell sobrepasa con creces su difusión estrictamente literaria. Por otro lado, se trata de un autor paradójico. Aunque fue un socialista convencido hasta el final de su vida, su famosa novela 1984 constituye una dramática y conmovedora denuncia del peligro totalitario que yace latente en el sistema económico que él mismo pregonaba y defendía. Debido a esto, Orwell siempre fue un autor problemático para la izquierda. En círculos libertarios, en cambio, ha sido leído y estudiado con simpatía, y con buena razón, porque pocos escritores del siglo XX han contribuido tanto como él a nuestra comprensión de las condiciones para el florecimiento de una sociedad li-bre. Pocos escritores, asimismo, han señalado tan claramente las amenazas que constantemente la acechan, tanto de un extremo ideológico como del otro. No es un cliché, por tanto, decir que Orwell es un autor «relevante» para nuestros tiempos, y seguirá siéndolo mientras haya enemigos de la libertad. Es un autor que vale la pena estudiar con cierto detalle.
The notion of a secular decline in the terms of trade of primary producing countries is a persist... more The notion of a secular decline in the terms of trade of primary producing countries is a persistent theme in the public discussion of the problems of developing areas, and has been advanced most forcefully in the writtings of Raul Prebisch. A cceptance of such views is implicit in most critiques of the international economic order. However, upon reviewing the literature and available evidence, it is argued that such views are untenable, based as they are upon a faulty interpretation of the welfare implications of movements in the commodity or net barter terms of trade, an uncritical appraisal of the statistical biases involved in terms of trade estimates, and an overly selective survey of actual historical price trends.
The purpose of this study is to explain the statistical variation in economic growth rates in a b... more The purpose of this study is to explain the statistical variation in economic growth rates in a broad cross-section of countries, over the period 1980-99. This problem will be addressed within the framework of the so-called “growth-regression” approach, which seeks to explain this variation by relating economic growth to a list of potential explanatory variables. A large number of studies published since the early 1990’s have been based on the “neo-classical theory of economic growth,” and this approach will be followed as a first approximation, though the main purpose of the paper is to evaluate the incremental explanatory power of several additional variables not usually contemplated in the conventional neo-classical approach.
Salant (1969) complained that on many occasions he found the writing of his fellow economists “ne... more Salant (1969) complained that on many occasions he found the writing of his fellow economists “nearly incomprehensible,” and made suggestions to improve economists‟ writing skills (and, by extension, those of natural and social scientists in general). Among other things, he argued that good writers tend to use shorter words. We call this “the Salant hypothesis,” and use standard statistical techniques to test this claim by comparing the average length of words used by Nobel laureates in their banquet speeches. We find that Literature laureates tend to use shorter words than laureates in other disciplines, and the difference is statistically significant. These results support Salant‟s idea that words should be used efficiently. This includes using short words instead of longer ones whenever possible. In short, good writing is also “economical writing.”
Ningún escritor narrativo del siglo XX ha contribuido tanto como George Orwell a nuestro lenguaje... more Ningún escritor narrativo del siglo XX ha contribuido tanto como George Orwell a nuestro lenguaje político contemporáneo, empezando por el uso de su propio nombre: hoy en día el adjetivo "orwelliano" forma parte integral del lenguaje cotidiano, y la comprensión del término implica necesariamente cierta familiaridadaunque sea muy de segunda manocon la obra narrativa. La influencia de Orwell sobrepasa con creces su difusión estrictamente literaria. No poca cosa. 1
This paper uses a regression analysis to explore the cross-country variation in homicide rates fo... more This paper uses a regression analysis to explore the cross-country variation in homicide rates for a large sample of countries. It starts by identifying seven significant regional dummy variables, to which traditional socio-economic, cultural, and institutional variables are added and tested. The importance of institutions, culture, and other factors affecting homicide rates are discussed. One unexpected finding is a curious relationship between the level of education and homicide rates: while an increase in male education tends to reduce homicide rates, an increase in female education tends to increase homicides. Several possible interpretations for this phenomenon are proposed. The study points to relatively unexplored areas of research in order to better understand homicide variation around the world.
W.A. Wallis studied vacancies in the US Supreme
Court over a 96-year period (1837–1932) and foun... more W.A. Wallis studied vacancies in the US Supreme
Court over a 96-year period (1837–1932) and found
that the distribution of the number of vacancies per
year could be characterized by a Poisson model.
This note updates this classic study.
This paper comments on some recent trends in intellectual property law, emphasizing two recent US... more This paper comments on some recent trends in intellectual property law, emphasizing two recent US laws, the “Sonny Bono Law” and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), both of 1998. The former extended the duration of copyrights by 20 years, and its constitutionality was challenged in a recent Supreme Court case. The latter eliminates, in the digital sphere, two distinctions that have been important in this field: (1) unauthorized reproduction versus illegal reproduction, and (2) the act of making unauthorized copies versus the act of creating the technology that enables such copying. Also, the manner in which the DMCA has been implemented poses serious questions regarding the jurisdiction of different national laws in this area. In view of these trends, it seems entirely legitimate to question whether copyright is really justified in a free society.
Milton Friedman, quien falleció en la madrugada del 16 de Noviembre, 2006, era mundialmente famos... more Milton Friedman, quien falleció en la madrugada del 16 de Noviembre, 2006, era mundialmente famoso como economista, y como defensor de la economía de mercado libre. Gran parte de su celebridad derivaba de su actividad como intelectual público, un aspecto de su obra que se reflejaba mayormente en libros populares, tales como Capitalismo y Libertad (1962) y el tremendamente exitoso Libertad de Elegir (1980)-ambos escritos conjuntamente con su esposa, Rose (y el segundo basado en la serie televisiva del mismo título)-y en las columnas de opinión que escribió durante muchos años para la revista Newsweek.
Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the world-famous author of Capitalism and Freedom (1962) and Free to... more Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the world-famous author of Capitalism and Freedom (1962) and Free to Choose (1980), was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, and his memory will live long in the lore of economics. To mark the centenary of his birth, Laissez-Faire is pleased to publish this bibliography, the most complete listing to date of his scholarly writings. It provides both an indication of the breadth of his interests, and a measure of the magnitude of his contribution to economic scholarship.
Like mathematicians and medical scientists, economists have contributed a fair share to the world... more Like mathematicians and medical scientists, economists have contributed a fair share to the world’s stock of scientific concepts named after their founders. The proof is the wonderful book An Eponymous Dictionary of Economics: A Guide to Laws and Theorems Named after Economists (2004), edited by Julio Segura and Carlos Rodriguez, which provides detailed definitions and explanations for more than 300 eponymic expressions commonly used in economics.
"The essays and papers in this book represent a fair sampling of my views on some of the main the... more "The essays and papers in this book represent a fair sampling of my views on some of the main themes and research topics that have held my professional attention over the past three decades," writes economist Julio Cole, the author of this collection.
The topics of the essays vary widely, from history of economic thought to studies of economic growth to detailed analysis of the economics of patents and copyrights.
"Julio Cole is a free thinker with a curious, systematic and creative mind," writes Gustavo Prado, in his Foreword to this book. "His intellectual interests are not confined to diverse subfields of economic theory and quantitative methods. He is also well read in history and literature. The wide range of his scientific and humanistic research interests is impressive. Over the years, he has conducted extensive scholarly research in monetary issues, economic growth, economic foundations of patents and copyrights, and the history of economic thought, with a special concentration on the work of prominent liberal thinkers, such as Adam Smith and Milton Friedman ... Dr. Cole is a rara avis among contemporary academic economists, who are often constrained by overspecialization and face the risk of knowing more and more about less and less."
Un pleno entendimiento del moderno sistema monetario y bancario implica necesariamente conocer, e... more Un pleno entendimiento del moderno sistema monetario y bancario implica necesariamente conocer, entre otras cosas, qué es el dinero, de dónde viene, de qué depende su valor, cuáles son los factores que producen cambios en la cantidad de dinero y cuáles son las consecuencias de dichos cambios sobre el sistema económico en general.
Este es el propósito de este libro, en el que se analizan punto por punto los siguientes temas:
- Naturaleza, funciones y origen del dinero - La banca comercial - La banca central - La masa monetaria y sus determinantes - El valor del dinero - La teoría cuantitativa del dinero
En este documento se proporcionan links a ciertos videos de conferencias y entrevistas que he gra... more En este documento se proporcionan links a ciertos videos de conferencias y entrevistas que he grabado en años recientes, y que se relacionan con los temas de mis publicaciones académicas. Estos materiales podrían ser de interés para las personas que han consultado mis documentos publicados en Academia.edu.
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Papers by Julio Cole
Court over a 96-year period (1837–1932) and found
that the distribution of the number of vacancies per
year could be characterized by a Poisson model.
This note updates this classic study.
Court over a 96-year period (1837–1932) and found
that the distribution of the number of vacancies per
year could be characterized by a Poisson model.
This note updates this classic study.
The topics of the essays vary widely, from history of economic thought to studies of economic growth to detailed analysis of the economics of patents and copyrights.
"Julio Cole is a free thinker with a curious, systematic and creative mind," writes Gustavo Prado, in his Foreword to this book. "His intellectual interests are not confined to diverse subfields of economic theory and quantitative methods. He is also well read in history and literature. The wide range of his scientific and humanistic research interests is impressive. Over the years, he has conducted extensive scholarly research in monetary issues, economic growth, economic foundations of patents and copyrights, and the history of economic thought, with a special concentration on the work of prominent liberal thinkers, such as Adam Smith and Milton Friedman ... Dr. Cole is a rara avis among contemporary academic economists, who are often constrained by overspecialization and face the risk of knowing more and more about less and less."
Este es el propósito de este libro, en el que se analizan punto por punto los siguientes temas:
- Naturaleza, funciones y origen del dinero
- La banca comercial
- La banca central
- La masa monetaria y sus determinantes
- El valor del dinero
- La teoría cuantitativa del dinero