The Economics of Information (Naked Economics)

Economics Mr. Bekemeyer "The Economics of Information" (Naked Economics) Please type your responses and include the questions.

1. Can you propose a way to "save" the Hope Scholarship program proposed by the Clinton Administration from the problem of "adverse selection?"

2. "More important, they [professional women taking maternity leave and/or quitting] impose a cost on other women." I'm simply asking you to react to this analysis. You can do this at an economic level, an equality level, a moral level, or whatever combination of levels that work for you.

3. What would you do to clean up the problems of information in the used-car market? Does technology like "Car Soup" and the like help or hurt with this effort?

4. On page 90, a quote from The Economist magazine explains the "looming quandary" genetic testing may pose for the health care industry. What should we do?

5. Most of you are headed off to college next year. Take a crack at the "chicken/egg" question about the value of a "Harvard-like" education that is introduced on pp. 93-94. (You can also react to the results of the Krueger study.)

6. Jump into the racial profiling debate started on pages 95 and 96. "Does race or ethnicity... convey meaningful information? If so, what do we do about it?"

7. Respond to the following terms: "Adverse Selection" (Page 82+) "Screening" mechanism (Page 89) "Branding" (Page 91+) Perfect Competition (Page 92) Branding versus commodities (Page 92) Signaling (Page 93+).

8. Basic economic models assume that all parties have “perfect information.” How does “informational asymmetry” undermine our market economy?

9. What did you find interesting? Has the idea of the "ECONOMICS OF INFORMATION" ever applied to you?