Tuesday's assorted links

Rental shortage, mortgage rates, Major League Baseball, estimation gaps, and Deaths of Despair

Hey, everyone!

Here are 5 stories that I thought were worth sharing with you this week:

1. How big is the rental shortage in the U.S.? [Video]

2. US mortgage rates are at their highest since 2019. What does this mean for housing demand?

3. Politicians are talking about eliminating Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption, again.

4. Americans overestimate the size of minority groups and underestimate the size of most majority groups.

5. Cardiff Garcia interviews Anne Case and Angus Deaton on their new book, Deaths of Despair. The authors look at the impact of deaths from suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol on a variety of economic outcomes. [Podcast]

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It’s the start of spring, so you may have seen a lot of people standing in line for “free treats” from places like Rita’s and Dairy Queen.

If you know someone who did, send them this week’s post:

There's no such thing as a free Italian ice

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Week 11 is over and I’m up to 9 books for the year. Last week I finished up The Wall and the Bridge by Glenn Hubbard. The overall message was a really interesting one that focused on how politicians tend to promote wall-building ideas like tariffs or border walls instead of bridge-building policies that would help improve society as a whole. The theme is very similar to some of the topics I cover in my labor economics course, but it was a bit repetitive in some parts. I rated it as a 3 out of 5, but that’s more because it didn’t align with my general interests. If you’re interested in economic policy, you may really enjoy this book.

Next up is The Data Detective by Tim Harford. I’ve always found his writing style captivating so I don’t think it’ll be too hard to get through his latest book.