A picture is worth 1000 words…

Until I saw these two pictures  (First) (Second) , I was skeptical about the recovery being slow. Careful to note they’re not the same picture. The first one is U.S. only and then the second is OECD countries (most of the developed world). Read the author’s writeup about the pictures here.
HT: Alex Tabarrok

Dept. of Unintended Consequences: Minimum Wage Edition

Yet another piece of evidence in my case for abolishing the minimum wage:
Discrimination in a Low-Wage Labor Market: A Field Experiment
Devah Pager, Bart Bonikowski & Bruce Western
American Sociological Review, October 2009, Pages 777-799
Abstract:
Decades of racial progress have led some researchers and policymakers to doubt that discrimination remains an important cause of economic inequality. To study [...]

Implicitly Betting on Inflation

Arnold Kling grew on me. Right as the financial crisis hit full tilt I really dove into reading economics/public policy related blogs. The last year or so has been a long slog of catching up on all the economics and financial market stuff they don’t teach you in the classroom. I know I still have [...]

Please Take One Step Forward and Then Two Steps Back

The Obama Administration has ordered steep pay cuts for the executives at Bank of America, AIG, GM, Chrysler, GMAC, & Chrysler Financial. These pay cuts come after the seven firms got huge loans from Uncle Sam. Call me confused, but wasn’t the rationale behind the bailouts to help them avoid a bankruptcy?
I’ll say it differently, [...]

Is Health Care a Right?

Don Boudreaux says no.
This parasitic attitude is the consequence of the chorus of pundits and politicians who’ve long sung in unison that health care is a “right.”  Genuine rights – such as freedom of speech – are not commodities to be purchased; nor does their existence require the on-going application of human labor and [...]

In Retrospect, I’m Glad My Vote Didn’t Matter

I’ve noted before that I see the world in process-outcome terms.  To me, the ability to refine one’s process is the key to sustained improvement and better long-term outcomes. Chance plays a role for sure, but listening to feedback and not just direct feedback,  is essential.
My laser-like-focus on refining my own processes leads me to [...]

Random Thoughts

Things I’m thinking about that don’t quite have enough to write a full post about.
1. I find it interesting that the CBO scored the new Healthcare bill as a debt reducer. Doug Elmendorf, the CBO Director,  disagrees with the result saying the Medicare cuts promised for the future (the “savings”) are politically unpopular and are [...]

Watch and See

It seems Ben Casnocha has a way of posting thoughts just as I’m thinking about related ideas.  I’m sure it’s all a series of random coincidence, but I’ve noticed a pattern.
Today he approvingly links to a snipet of a Koffi Annan interview where the journalist questions Koffi’s status as a leader.  Koffi’s reply? Watch and [...]

In Praise of GM* (and OnStar)

If Russ Roberts can say those three little words, then I can too. “I was wrong.” The question is, what was I wrong about?
I’ve spent numerous posts here talking about General Motors (GM*) and its failures.  How they won’t be able to properly do innovation without our government cutting off their funding backstop. Until GM* [...]

Book Review: Religious Literacy

Since I woke up this morning with some flu-like symptoms and stayed home from work, I got a chance to look at a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while, Religious Literacy by Stephen Prothero.  I saw Professor Prothero on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, about a year ago now, and his spot made [...]