YouTube video by Matthew Kahn

My Wall Street Journal feed supplied some clickbait this morning.

“Advance market commitments” would infuse competition, clarity, and savings into the weapons-buying mix.

A contrarian view

YouTube video by Matthew Kahn

Are future disaster risks an important determinant of the value of your home?

The EIA provides annual data for U.S states listing their electric utility’s coal consumption.

California Governor Gavin Newsom didn't mince words when he labeled private equity firms swooping into fire-ravaged Los Angeles neighborhoods as "vultures."  These investors, he argued, were preying o...

Maligned as “vultures,” private equity investors could instead partner with homeowners to rebuild.

When wars end, rebuilding takes place and an economic boom often ensues as the capital stock is rebuilt.

In a provocative interview, Elon Musk said “AI and robots will eliminate poverty”.

What do Boston’s Big Dig project, the California High Speed Rail project, the Los Angeles Purple Line connecting the Pacific Ocean to downtown LA, and Manila, Philippines flood control investment have...

In the 2025 book Fixed: Why Personal Finance Is Broken and How to Make It Work for Everyone, John Campbell and Tarun Ramadorai (CR) provide a general audience overview of the main themes of modern hou...

Tonight at USC’s Department of Economics, I will participate in a panel discussion related to the rise of AI and its implications for the Labor Market.

Many applied microeconomists have had successful research careers measuring the intended and unintended consequences of policy changes.

I lived in Manhattan from 1968 until 1972 and from 1993 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2000.

Email Address: snimmaga@usc.edu Phone: +1 (310) 359-5293

The most consequential climate-policy question for developing economies is how quickly people, firms, and governments can prepare for shocks, recover from them, and learn to do better next time.

In our information age, we have increasing access to real-time local weather forecasts.

While Led Zeppelin recorded “The Song Remains the Same”, Bill Gates is now singing a slightly different (optimistic) green tune.

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics celebrates Creative Destruction.

Every property in the United States is at risk of flooding.

The New York Times has published an insightful article that allows the authors to sketch out the environmental benefits of an authoritarian state (where the CCP can allocate land as it sees fit) and t...

Caitlin Clark is a superstar who earns $84,000 playing professional basketball in the WNBA.

In this Substack, I build on my recent podcast. I present a simple geometric example to illustrate what economists mean when they discuss calculating the “derived demand” for electricity.

I am deeply worried about the academic job prospects for young Ph.Ds in fields such as economics.

In urban public education systems across the United States, an achievement gap persists.

As of 2023, roughly 194 million American adults had at least one chronic condition, which cost our nation’s economy billions of dollars each year.

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

The microeconomic perspective on daily events.

Mortgage Securitization Reform Lessons from China's State Owned Enterprises

A PATH for early-career scholars The Hoover Institution at Stanford University seeks outstanding scholars for positions as a Hoover Fellow. The term of the appointment is five years and may be renewed...

California’s High Speed Rail project is very costly and highly subsidized by the Federal Government.

Every Monday, the NBER releases its new set of Working Papers.

This Substack will zigzag as I discuss 50 years of economic demography research (focused on the work of Gary Becker and Jacob Mincer) and then I will pivot and discuss my demography research before I ...

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

Why is Europe So Slow to Invest in Air Conditioning?

Correlation Causes Causation!

In this podcast, I present my very short talk

The Federal Government spends billions subsidizing homeownership.