Money has always been something of an embarrassment to economic theory. Everyone agrees that it is important; indeed, much of macroeconomic policy discussion makes no sense without reference to money. Yet, for the most part, theory fails to provide a good account for it. Indeed in the...

This paper tries to explain why government bureaucraties are often associated with red tape, corruption and lack of incentives. The paper identifies two specific ingredients which together can provide an explanation - the fact that governments o ften act precisely in situations where markets...

This paper explains the size and value “anomalies†in stock returns using an economically motivated two-beta model. We break the beta of a stock with the market portfolio into two components, one reflecting news about the market’s future cash flows and one reflecting news about...

The Social capital literature documents a connection between social connection and economic outcomes of interest ranging from government quality to economic growth. Popular authors suggest that housing and architecture are important determinants of social connection. This paper examines the...