Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't by John Jr. (books that read to you TXT) 📕

45 See for example Steve Hill, “Merchants say A&M can hurt local business,” Bryan-College Station Eagle (Texas) (May 20, 1990a): A1, A4, and Steve Hill, “Businesses learn to live with A&M competition,” Bryan-College Station Eagle (Texas) (May 22, 1990b): A1, A3.

46 Gary Wolfram, “Private College Under Seige” USA Today, January 1, 1999. See also Southern Regional Education Board, Total Enrollment in Higher Education. (Summary of NCES Data) (http://www.sreb.org/main/EdData/DataLibrary/03/highered/enrollment/FB22.xls); U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2003-04 and 2004-05 IPEDS, Table 314 (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_314.asp); and U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2003-04 and 2004-05 IPEDS, Table 197 (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_197.asp).

47 Conversation with economics professor Isaac Ehrlich at the University of Buffalo.

48 John R. Lott, “Predation by Public Enterprises,” Journal of Public Economics no. 43 (1990): 237-251 and D. Daniel Sokol, “Express Delivery and the Postal Sector in the Context of Public Sector Anti-competitive Practices,” Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business, (2003): 353-381.

49 The German government still owned a majority of Deutsche Post AG at the time. For a detailed discussion of the Deutsche Post case in the context of trade liberalization, see Robert B. Cohen, “Trade and Competition Issues Raised by the Liberalization of State-Owned Monopolies: The Example of Deutsche Post’s Cross-subsidization of Its Express Delivery Operations,” (Washington, DC: Economic Strategy Institute) 2004. See also R. Richard Geddes, “Pricing by State-owned Enterprises,” Cornell University working paper (2006).

50 Geddes, “Pricing by State-owned Enterprises.” A competitor brought similar charges against the Japanese Post, though it did not win the case. Editorial, “Japan’s Postal Behemoth Digs In on Deregulation,” Wall Street Journal, January 6, 2000, A14.

51 US Postal Rate Commission, Domestic Mail Rate History (http://www.prc.gov/rates/stamphistory.htm) and 2006 Rate Source: USPS Express Mail Rate Table (http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/ratesandfees.htm#wp3804532). See also Lott, “Predation by Public Enterprises,” 237-251.

52 John R. Lott, “Predation by Public Enterprises,” Journal of Public Economics no. 43 (1990): 237-251.

53 NASA claims that it costs about $450 million to launch each shuttle, though other estimates are much higher. The cost of taking cargo into orbit is now over $20,000 per pound. NASA, Frequently Asked Questions, Kennedy Space Center, http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/shuttle_faq.html#10. See also Milton R. Copulos, “Hearings before the House Committee on Science and Technology, subcommittee on Space Science and Applications,” June 18, 1985,1-2, and Associated Press, “Critics scrutinize cost of shuttle,” USA Today, February 4, 2003 (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-02-04-shuttle-critics_x.htm).

54 John M. Logsdon and Ray A. Williamson, “U.S. Access to Space,” Scientific American, vol. 260, no. 3 (March, 1989): 34-40.

55 See John R. Lott, Jr. and Tim Opler, “Testing Whether Predatory Commitments are Credible,” Journal of Business, vol. 69, no. 3, (July 1996), 339-82 and Lott, Are Predatory Commitments Credible?: Who Should the Courts Believe? (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), Chapters 1 and 2.

56 For more examples, see Lott, Are Predatory Commitments Credible?, University of Chicago Press, 1999.

57 For a discussion of guilds in Paris and Genoa see Steven A. Epstein, Wage and Labor Guilds in Medieval Europe, (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991).

58 Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1774]. Edited by E. Canna, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) 133, 136-7. Milton Friedman wrote his dissertation on how modern professional licenses restrict entry into a profession in order to drive up incomes. See Milton Friedman, “Income from Independent Professional Practice,” Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University, 1946. Also published in: Milton Friedman and Simon Kuznets, Income from Independent Professional Practice, NBER Publications, (New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1954).

59 Epstein, 1991, 106-09, 141-43. See also Richard MacKenney, Tradesmen and Traders: The World of the Guilds in Venice and Europe, c. 1250- c. 1650, (Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books, 1987).

60 Robert J. Havighurst, study director, National Commission on Accrediting: Commission on the Study of Optometric Education, National Commission on Accreditation: Washington, D.C. (1973), and David P. Bianco, ed., Professional and Occupational Licensing Directory: A Descriptive Guide to State and Federal Licensing, Registration, and Certification Requirements, (Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1993), 697-704.

61 Helen Hofer Gee and E. Shepley Nourse, Admission Requirements of American Medical Colleges Including Canada, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C., 1960. See also Comprehensive Guide of Bar Admission Requirements, American Bar Association Section of Legal Education, 1989, and AAMC Curriculum Directory, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C., 1972-1980.

62 Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement,” U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos169.htm#training).

63 David P. Bianco, 1993, 155-190.

64 Bianco, 1993.

65 Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, 1991. Also based upon an interview with Joe McClary from the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (334) 260-2928).

66 Data are for the U.S. during the 2001-2002 academic year. Wendy Stock and John Siegfried, “Time-to-Degree for Economics Ph.D. Class of 2001-2002,” American Economic Review (May 2006): 467-474. The ranges of time-to-degree were obtained by the author from Wendy Stock.

67 Charlotte Tubbs, “Teacher Job Fair Attracts 1,500 Prospective Educators,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock), February 6, 2005.

68 John R. Lott, Jr., “Why Does Professional Licensing Rely on Minimum Schooling Requirements,” University of Chicago Working Paper, 1996.

69 There are two types of tests that doctors take to practice: board and licensing exams. Doctors can in theory practice with just a license, but hospitals will rarely let a doctor perform surgery without the doctor being board certified. Board exams are different than the licensing exams and these tests do try to evaluate skills, such as a surgeon’s ability to perform an operation. For information on licensing see G.F. Dillon, J.R. Boulet, R.E. Hawkins, and D.B. Swanson, “Simulations in the United States Medical Licensing Examination,” Quality & Safety in Health Care, 2004:i41-i45 (http://qshc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/13/suppl_1/i41); Kate Shatzkn, “Test