José A. Scheinkman offers new insight into the mystery of bubbles in financial markets. Noting some general characteristics of bubbles-such as the rise in trading volume and the coincidence between increases in supply and bubble implosions-Scheinkman offers a model, based on differences in...

It has long been recognized that an improved standard of living results from advances in technology, not from the accumulation of capital. It has also become clear that what truly separates developed from less-developed countries is not just a gap in resources or output but a gap in knowledge....

Moral hazard--the tendency to change behavior when the cost of that behavior will be borne by others--is a particularly tricky question when considering health care. Kenneth J. Arrow's seminal 1963 paper on this topic (included in this volume) was one of the first to explore the implication of...