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150 Years Ago Today
A century and a half ago this week, South Carolina began the grand experiment as to whether there is an "opt out" clause hidden between the lines of the Constitution. The Ordnance of Secession, adopted on the 20th, said nothing more than "We're outta here!" in the legalese of the time. On Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1860, South Carolina adopted ( Read more... ) -
Survey
A few years ago, several folks tried to encourage me to make a standalone web site/blog, where I would comment on economics and politics, and how they relate. At the time, I didn't have any more focus than "What I'm thinking about today," which would make it indistinguishable from 100,000 or so other blogs on political economy, so I declined ( Read more... ) -
An amusing quote
Stanford economist and Republican Mike Boskin, says it best. Being Chair of the [President's Council of Economic Advisors] and advising all the political appointees in the White House is, he says, a lot like teaching Econ 1 at Stanford. Only at Stanford your students do their reading, pay attention, and ask deeper and more thoughtful questions.
Research Help Requested
I've a research question I'm having a spot of trouble with. Most people who are familiar with Ron Paul, but are not his fans, seem to believe that the economic policies he advocates are built on a rickety platform of misunderstandings, half-truths, and wishful thinking. Is there an American on the left, who spends a lot of time advocating an ( Read more... )Thanksgiving and The Uses of History
The original historians were what we might call polemicists today. They used the past, or events in distant lands, as a platform to write parables that were intended to advance a current political or social goal. Students of German history are familiar with Tacitus' Germania, in which he painted the Germans as what later generations would call " ( Read more... )Sense of Proportion, the Fakebook
When I was a teenager, most people had a sense of proportion. Because that has since been lost, I'd like to propose a few rules that might just help some to act as if they had one ( Read more... )The Election - Commentary on Candidates
I've spent the last couple of weeks researching the candidates on my ballot. Michigan voters can get a copy of everything that will be on their ballot hereWhile going down the list, and checking candidate positions, I noticed that the Michigan Libertarians celebrate their dedication to individual liberty . . . by having exactly the same text on the ( Read more... )Confirmation Bias
An economics professor makes a point I've tried to make before. From the middle of a discussion:
How can people read the same post in such different ways ( Read more... )You can't have everything . . .
Because it deserves to be passed along:
I am a little late to this party but Arnold asks for a popularization of the Impossibility Theorem. Mine is as follows
You can have a government that is
1. Rational
2. Democratic
3. Free
Choose two.
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