Market for Day Laborers Sours With the Economy
"As the economy has worsened, the number of laborers gathering at the Home Depot here has grown, making the competition for fewer jobs that much fiercer. The newcomers have arrived from other cities, thinking things would be better in New York. Or they have been laid off from semipermanent jobs in manufacturing and construction, either as a result of the economy or tougher crackdowns on illegal immigrants. "
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Incremental changes
It is often easier to make incremental changes in a marketplace, rather than big ones all at once. The NY Times has a story on Yahoo's painstaking process of changing its home page, a process apparently common to big web portals: Changing That Home Page? Take Baby Steps.
"You could call it stealth innovation. The company’s goal is to end up several months from now with a completely different, and presumably better, front page — with its audience intact. The effort is as much art as science and seeks to balance the company’s desire to innovate with its fear of alienating users. And it offers an example of how online services are designed and improved in a world where a rival’s offering is just a click away.
The challenges are not unique to Yahoo. All kinds of Web sites, big and small, face similar issues as they leap from version 1.0 to version 2.0 and beyond. But the largest, most successful sites have the most to lose by springing sudden changes on their users, so they often exercise particular caution. Google, for instance, has said it tries to make changes to its search engine that, on their own, are imperceptible, but that taken together result in a better product over time. With the same goal in mind, eBay once took 30 days to gradually change the background color of its home page from gray to white. "
"You could call it stealth innovation. The company’s goal is to end up several months from now with a completely different, and presumably better, front page — with its audience intact. The effort is as much art as science and seeks to balance the company’s desire to innovate with its fear of alienating users. And it offers an example of how online services are designed and improved in a world where a rival’s offering is just a click away.
The challenges are not unique to Yahoo. All kinds of Web sites, big and small, face similar issues as they leap from version 1.0 to version 2.0 and beyond. But the largest, most successful sites have the most to lose by springing sudden changes on their users, so they often exercise particular caution. Google, for instance, has said it tries to make changes to its search engine that, on their own, are imperceptible, but that taken together result in a better product over time. With the same goal in mind, eBay once took 30 days to gradually change the background color of its home page from gray to white. "
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Financial Fraud, and law enforcement
Some parts of market design involve criminal law, and these depend for their effectiveness on law enforcement. The NY Times reports that the
F.B.I. Struggles to Handle Wave of Financial Fraud Cases
"The bureau slashed its criminal investigative work force to expand its national security role after the Sept. 11 attacks, shifting more than 1,800 agents, or nearly one-third of all agents in criminal programs, to terrorism and intelligence duties. Current and former officials say the cutbacks have left the bureau seriously exposed in investigating areas like white-collar crime...
"So depleted are the ranks of the F.B.I.’s white-collar investigators that executives in the private sector say they have had difficulty attracting the bureau’s attention in cases involving possible frauds of millions of dollars."
F.B.I. Struggles to Handle Wave of Financial Fraud Cases
"The bureau slashed its criminal investigative work force to expand its national security role after the Sept. 11 attacks, shifting more than 1,800 agents, or nearly one-third of all agents in criminal programs, to terrorism and intelligence duties. Current and former officials say the cutbacks have left the bureau seriously exposed in investigating areas like white-collar crime...
"So depleted are the ranks of the F.B.I.’s white-collar investigators that executives in the private sector say they have had difficulty attracting the bureau’s attention in cases involving possible frauds of millions of dollars."
Incentives in (British) medicine, continued
Doctors paid thousands not to send patients to hospital for treatment
The Telegraph reports "Family doctors are being paid thousands of pounds not to send their patients to hospital for specialist treatment, sparking fears over standards of care.
...Dozens of incentive schemes have been uncovered which allow GPs to profit by slashing the number of patients they refer for hospital care.
Under one scheme, GPs stand to gain £59 for every patient not referred to hospital, if they cut an average referral rate by between two and eight per cent. "
Recall my earlier post on a different but related issue.
The Telegraph reports "Family doctors are being paid thousands of pounds not to send their patients to hospital for specialist treatment, sparking fears over standards of care.
...Dozens of incentive schemes have been uncovered which allow GPs to profit by slashing the number of patients they refer for hospital care.
Under one scheme, GPs stand to gain £59 for every patient not referred to hospital, if they cut an average referral rate by between two and eight per cent. "
Recall my earlier post on a different but related issue.
More on Darkmarket, the Craigslist of Crime
It was always the case that if you wanted to strike up a conversation with an undercover policeman, you could walk into a bar and whisper that you were looking to hire a hitman. It turns out that this is true in cyberspace as well: Cybercrime Supersite 'DarkMarket' Was FBI Sting, Documents Confirm
"Like earlier crime sites, DarkMarket allowed buyers and sellers of stolen identities and credit card data to meet and do business in an entrepreneurial, peer-reviewed environment. Products for sale ran the gamut from specialized hardware, to electronic banking logins collected from phishing attacks, stolen personal data needed to assume a consumer's identity ("full infos") and credit card magstripe swipes ("dumps), which are used to produce counterfeit cards. Vendors were encouraged to submit their goods for review before offering them for sale.
...the FBI used DarkMarket to build "intelligence briefs" on its members, complete with their internet IP addresses and details of their activities on the site. In at least some cases, the bureau matched the information with transaction records provided by the electronic currency service E-Gold."
In any event, the FBI went out in character. You can read the final closedown message here: 56 Arrested in DarkMarket Sting, Says FBI
HT to Steve Leider (who is on the market this year)
"Like earlier crime sites, DarkMarket allowed buyers and sellers of stolen identities and credit card data to meet and do business in an entrepreneurial, peer-reviewed environment. Products for sale ran the gamut from specialized hardware, to electronic banking logins collected from phishing attacks, stolen personal data needed to assume a consumer's identity ("full infos") and credit card magstripe swipes ("dumps), which are used to produce counterfeit cards. Vendors were encouraged to submit their goods for review before offering them for sale.
...the FBI used DarkMarket to build "intelligence briefs" on its members, complete with their internet IP addresses and details of their activities on the site. In at least some cases, the bureau matched the information with transaction records provided by the electronic currency service E-Gold."
In any event, the FBI went out in character. You can read the final closedown message here: 56 Arrested in DarkMarket Sting, Says FBI
HT to Steve Leider (who is on the market this year)
Friday, October 17, 2008
DarkMarket
The London Times reports: Online crime marketplace DarkMarket closed following UK police raids
"DarkMarket was used to swap information about fraud techniques and to sell credit card details. In December, The Times revealed that websites such as DarkMarket were selling financial details of tens of thousands of Britons for less than £1. "
"DarkMarket was used to swap information about fraud techniques and to sell credit card details. In December, The Times revealed that websites such as DarkMarket were selling financial details of tens of thousands of Britons for less than £1. "
Assisted suicide: Switzerland and England
The London Times reports that prosecutors are looking into the case of a British citizen whose family helped him travel to a Swiss clinic to die: 'Second-class life' not enough for injured rugby star Daniel James
"More than 100 Britons are claimed to have travelled to Swiss clinic where Daniel died to make use of laws that allow assisted suicide. Most are in the final stages of a terminal illness.
Although assisted suicide is illegal in Britain and carries a sentence of up to 14 years in jail no one has been prosecuted for taking someone to Dignitas. The figure on assisted dying, was released by the clinic at the start of a High Court test challenge to the laws that ban aiding and abetting suicide. "
"More than 100 Britons are claimed to have travelled to Swiss clinic where Daniel died to make use of laws that allow assisted suicide. Most are in the final stages of a terminal illness.
Although assisted suicide is illegal in Britain and carries a sentence of up to 14 years in jail no one has been prosecuted for taking someone to Dignitas. The figure on assisted dying, was released by the clinic at the start of a High Court test challenge to the laws that ban aiding and abetting suicide. "
Black market for body parts
Former UCLA Exec Pleads Guilty to Body Trafficking
"The former chief of UCLA's cadaver program pleaded guilty Friday for his role in selling donated body parts to medical, drug and research companies in a scheme that netted up to $1 million, prosecutors said.
Henry Reid, 58, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court to one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft, with a special allegation that he damaged or destroyed more than $1 million worth of school property, which refers to the donated bodies."
"The former chief of UCLA's cadaver program pleaded guilty Friday for his role in selling donated body parts to medical, drug and research companies in a scheme that netted up to $1 million, prosecutors said.
Henry Reid, 58, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court to one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft, with a special allegation that he damaged or destroyed more than $1 million worth of school property, which refers to the donated bodies."
New survey of matching by Sonmez and Unver
Allocation and Exchange of Discrete Resources: Matching Market Design for House Allocation, Kidney Exchange, and School Choice by Tayfun Sonmez and Utku Unver, forthcoming in the Handbook of Social Economics edited by Jess Benhabib, Alberto Bisin, and Matthew Jackson.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Arrow in the Guardian on the financial crisis
Economists are accustomed to think of markets as being public goods, but Ken Arrow writes that they may have negative externalities if they increase asymmetric information, and generally make reliable understanding harder to come by:
"the root is this conflict between the genuine social value of increased variety and spread of risk-bearing securities and the limits imposed by the growing difficulty of understanding the underlying risks imposed by growing complexity."
"the root is this conflict between the genuine social value of increased variety and spread of risk-bearing securities and the limits imposed by the growing difficulty of understanding the underlying risks imposed by growing complexity."
Experiments in market design: financial bailout
NPR has followed up their earlier coverage of the Ausubel-Cramton reverse auction proposal with a brief story reporting on some experiments they are running with it: Can the Banks Cheat?
Hat tip to Steve Leider (an innovative experimenter and behavioral economist on the market this year:)
Hat tip to Steve Leider (an innovative experimenter and behavioral economist on the market this year:)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Market design that you can't refuse: Treasury switches to equity
The NY Times reports that the latest change of direction in the financial bailout was presented as an ultimatum by the Treasury to big banks: Drama Behind a $250 Billion Banking Deal
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Peer to peer lending in the credit crunch
Alan Krueger, writing in the NY Times blog, notes that even borrowers with good credit are being moved by circumstance to some of the peer to peer lenders: In Credit Crisis, Some Turn to Online Peers for Cash
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Congestion fees: "Lexus lanes" considered in UK
The Telegraph reports that British traffic authorities are considering allowing motorists driving alone to pay to be allowed to drive in less crowded lanes previously reserved for high occupancy vehicles: 'Lexus lanes' could be trialled within two years .
The automobile association finds this repugnant:
"The plans were condemned by the AA.
"Our members oppose them, they don't want to pay to use hot lanes," a spokesman said. "Why should people have to fork out to avoid congestion?" "
The automobile association finds this repugnant:
"The plans were condemned by the AA.
"Our members oppose them, they don't want to pay to use hot lanes," a spokesman said. "Why should people have to fork out to avoid congestion?" "
Tipping--in restaurants
The NY Times reports on the history of how that aristocratic European institution became an American custom: Why Tip?
It was once widely regarded as a repugnant transaction:
"Ultimately, even those who in principle opposed the practice found themselves unable to stiff their servers. Samuel Gompers, who was president of the American Federation of Labor and a leading figure of the anti-tipping movement, admitted that he “followed the usual custom of giving tips.” "
Ben Franklin worried about it: "“To overtip is to appear an ass: to undertip is to appear an even greater ass,” Benjamin Franklin reportedly noted during his stint in Paris, and his quandary continues to vex American diners."
But eventually the custom caught on in America even as it waned it Europe.
It was once widely regarded as a repugnant transaction:
"Ultimately, even those who in principle opposed the practice found themselves unable to stiff their servers. Samuel Gompers, who was president of the American Federation of Labor and a leading figure of the anti-tipping movement, admitted that he “followed the usual custom of giving tips.” "
Ben Franklin worried about it: "“To overtip is to appear an ass: to undertip is to appear an even greater ass,” Benjamin Franklin reportedly noted during his stint in Paris, and his quandary continues to vex American diners."
But eventually the custom caught on in America even as it waned it Europe.
Kol Nidre: Contract law when your counterparty is omnipotent
Michael Weiss recounts in Slate how the Kol Nidre prayer , has changed over time.
Happy Hour
This story, from the Times of London, seems to combine at least two themes commonly encountered in legislation limiting repugnant transactions: Ministers to ban free drinks for women
E-retailing
The NY Times reviews some of the history of eBay and Amazon: Amid the Gloom, an E-Commerce War
Friday, October 10, 2008
Marriage Market--gay marriage legalized in CT
Conn. High Court Rules Gay Couples Can Marry
We are witnessing a transaction widely regarded as repugnant since Biblical antiquity being reassessed in light of modern ideas about equal protection under the law.
We are witnessing a transaction widely regarded as repugnant since Biblical antiquity being reassessed in light of modern ideas about equal protection under the law.
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