Political

Macroeconomic policy and the optimal destruction of vampires

Whitby Abbey
Image by Tim Hill from Pixabay.

“Macroeconomic policy and the optimal destruction of vampires” (1982) by Dennis Snower is one of the selections in Yoram Bauman’s Top 11 Funniest Papers in the History of Economics:

Although human beings have endured the recurring ravages of vampires for centuries, scarcely any attempts have been made to analyze the macroeconomic implications of this problem and to devise socially optimal policy responses.

He goes on to show that destroying all vampires is not the socially optimal outcome.

The full list of funny economic papers is well worth a read – enjoy!

Snower’s full article is available (paywalled) here. Its full academic reference is:

Snower, Dennis J. “Macroeconomic Policy and the Optimal Destruction of Vampires.” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 90, no. 3, University of Chicago Press, 1982, pp. 647–55.

Hat-tip: Tim Harford.

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