The Swiss Ban Minarets

Liberal Europe?

The Swiss Ban Minarets - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Does Tom Friedman read his own columns?

He must not. He forgets that he was a proponent of organized violence.

Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

Time to Stick the Knife In

Markets are good at telling you the current price of things. They are not good at forecasting the future. Non market participants often misinterpret this.

Financial Armageddon: Time to Stick the Knife In

"Independent Does Not Mean Unaccountable"

Thoma channels Bernanke who is defending the Fed against those who would strip it of powers.
He admits the Fed "did not do all that it could have to constrain excessive risk-taking in the financial sector in the period leading up to the crisis."

Economist's View: "Independent Does Not Mean Unaccountable"

Dean Baker is not impressed.

Nor is Naked Capitalism

How Little We Know

Money Quote
"A Martian impartially observing the U.S. financial
system would conclude that it is run to
benefit the executives and protégés of Goldman
Sachs."


Greg Mankiw's Blog: How Little We Know

Yes, Fox News Really Is This Bad

They cannot get the math right

Yes, Fox News Really Is This Bad! - J. Bradford DeLong's Grasping Reality with All Eight Tentacles

Nor can they get history correct.

Or is this worse.?

Happy Thanksgiving

Dating sites use DNA to find your perfect match

Could be another misuse of science.
Dating sites use DNA to find your perfect match

Highways Are Heavily Subsidized

An important fact that is left out of the debate about building a decent high speed rail and urban mass transit is that both highways and air travel are heavily subsidized.

Matthew Yglesias » Highways Are Heavily Subsidized

Troop Levels in Afganistan

It is hard to imagine that 40,000 additional troops will lead to a positive outcome.

Chart Of The Day II - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Price Discrimination

An explanation of Black Friday. I am staying away.

Price Discrimination Explains Everything, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Greg Mankiw's Blog: Healthcare Reform and the Big Tradeoff

Mankiw provides a link to a Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis 2004 paper that explains why Americans work harder than Europeans. I am not convinced that it is all about taxes.

Greg Mankiw's Blog: Healthcare Reform and the Big Tradeoff

The Rings of Earth

Mental Health Break - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Relationship Venn -

Combination of Venn and Axis Chart styles

Relationship Venn - Chart Porn

Indianapolis (Highway 74)

Indianapolis (Highway 74) : The New Yorker

Why auditing the FED is a good idea.

Beat the Press Archive | The American Prospect

Visualizing empires decline

Cool look at world history.

Visualizing empires decline on Vimeo

Men married to smart women live longer - Times Online

Another good reason.

Men married to smart women live longer - Times Online

Sadly yes

Oxford Word of the Year 2009: Unfriend : OUPblog

An Economist's Guide to Happier Parenting, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

I can' t get enough of this.
An Economist's Guide to Happier Parenting, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

The Mythology of the Future Job Market ~ Angry Bear

A pessimistic look at the future of employment.


The Mythology of the Future Job Market ~ Angry Bear

and here.

Causes of the Crash

Yet another list
Roger Lowenstein on Financial Reform | The Big Picture

Economics of Contempt: Geithner Vindicated in TARP Watchdog Report

A more nuanced view of the AIG bailout. The FED had no power to get less than par value from the banks. Any power it would have would be the threat of regulatory retaliation.


Economics of Contempt: Geithner Vindicated in TARP Watchdog Report

“Should America Kowtow to China?” « naked capitalism

Best advice on the dollar: "Do nothing". It will not fall dramatically from here because China needs the job machine

and even if it does that is not a problem,

“Should America Kowtow to China?” « naked capitalism

Interfluidity :: Discretion and financial regulation

Interfluidity :: Discretion and financial regulation

Matthew Yglesias » Broder on Afghanistan: Better a Quick Choice Than the Right One

The problem with the right wing is that many thing this way

"Given that reality, the urgent necessity is to make a decision -- whether or not it is right."

Usually they would not be honest enough to admit that fact.

Matthew Yglesias » Broder on Afghanistan: Better a Quick Choice Than the Right One

The All-Inclusive All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Guide « Eating The Road

An American classic: The all you can eat buffet. I prefer the Chinese.

The All-Inclusive All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Guide « Eating The Road

Ayn Rand: The Boring Bitch is Back | The Big Picture

Good news: not every hedge fund manager is Randian.

Ayn Rand: The Boring Bitch is Back | The Big Picture

Japan as No. 1

Thirty years later. Vogel had a point. Just the title was wrong.

A more competitive America, he says, needs a much stronger government, an elite civil service composed of “the ablest young people of their generation” and a White House staffed by these new mandarins. Moral pressure needs to be felt again by Americans to bind their fragmented society together. “In the guise of pursuing freedoms, we have supported egoism and self-interest and have damaged group or common interests...we are more concerned with the rights of the deviant than the rights of the responsible citizen.
"
From the archive: One side of the success story | The Economist

The Right and Terrorists.

"This is literally true: the Right's reaction to yesterday's announcement -- we're too afraid to allow trials and due process in our country -- is the textbook definition of "surrendering to terrorists." It's the same fear they've been spewing for years. As always, the Right's tough-guy leaders wallow in a combination of pitiful fear and cynical manipulation of the fear of their followers. Indeed, it's hard to find any group of people on the globe who exude this sort of weakness and fear more than the American Right."

Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

More Lessons from the Crisis - Federal Reserve Bank of New York

More Lessons from the Crisis - Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Omnivore's Dilemma

Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Eating Animals” and vegetarianism review : The New Yorker

And a less nuanced view.

Ten Lessons From The Financial Crisis That Investors Will Soon Forget (If They Haven’t Already!) | The Big Picture

There will be lots of lists of lessons.

Ten Lessons From The Financial Crisis That Investors Will Soon Forget (If They Haven’t Already!) | The Big Picture

U6

NY Times: Unemployment Measure U-6 Highest Since Great Depression

from Calculated Risk by CalculatedRisk

From David Leonhardt at the NY Times: Broader Measure of Unemployment Stands at 17.5% Excerpts:

Officially, the Labor Department’s broad measure of unemployment goes back only to 1994. But early this year, with the help of economists at the department, The New York Times created a version that estimates it going back to 1970.
...
If statistics went back so far, the measure would almost certainly be at its highest level since the Great Depression.

In all, more than one out of every six workers — 17.5 percent — were unemployed or underemployed in October. The previous high was 17.1 percent, in December 1982.

There is much more in the article, but this suggest that the BLS' "Alternative measure of labor underutilization U-6"¹ is now at the highest level since the Great Depression.

¹ "Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers"

On second thought?

Three cheer for college football towns - Nov. 5, 2009

11         Penn State University   State College, Pa. $  309,850         97

On Invoking God to Defend Mammon

Mark you this, Bassanio,
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

On Invoking God to Defend Mammon « naked capitalism

Sympathy for the Treasury

Interesting take. What is the difference between interpersonal relationships and corruption?


Interfluidity :: Sympathy for the Treasury

This also contains hints about how to handle small group meetings with people of disparate backgrounds and how not to answer questions. How does Treasury teach these skills?

Dark Pools and Regulations

More transparency is needed.

AllAboutAlpha.com» Hedge Fund Regulation Today's Post » What lurks for hedge funds beneath the deep, dark waters of dark pools?

The Hubris of Economics |

Economics forgot George E. P. Box’s most basic rule:

“Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful”

The Hubris of Economics | The Big Picture

Reconstruction for the USA

We need to be more vocal about this. Defense spending is a long term threat to the national interests of the United States. Why is there not more talk about cost benefit analysis.

Matthew Yglesias » Reconstruction for the USA

Out of the Woods?

Chart of the day | Free exchange | Economist.com

Cell Size and Scale

Great use of graphics to show relative size.
Cell Size and Scale