Sausage Hurts

You know you're an applied microeconomist when the first thought you have after reading this article about how sausage increases the risk of cancer by 20% is, "Hmm. Could I use the Atkins Diet as an instrument for sausage consumption?"

I told an editor of an economics journal over dinner a few weeks ago that I was really sick of the emphasis that is placed on exogeneity in applied micro studies. It's not simply that I can't find as good of instruments as the ones used in the best journals. Rather, it's that my wife doesn't know what an instrument is or why it is important. So instead of spending my life answering interesting questions about policy and society, I come home and say, "Hey honey, you'll never guess what cool instrument I thought of today." She hates it when I do that.