In Bucharest (Romania), in the ’30s, you could get brothel subscriptions, with volume discounts and hourly restrictions. (The card says that calls during weekends and holidays are restricted [...]
Doctors routinely consider factors such as tumour size, stage of the disease and other measures to predict how long a patient [...]
Senator Barack Obama says he would “engage in aggressive personal diplomacy” with Iran if elected president and would offer economic inducements and [...]
1. Palestinians cannot stop other Palestinians from attacking Israel. To do so would be betraying the cause, becoming [...]
Responding to overwhelming pressure from every civilized person on earth with any semblance of intelligence, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee today announced that it had voted to terminate its charter. Just prior to the unanimous vote, the Committee voted to rescind numerous past prizes - including [...]
To me, the problem with the Stiglitz-MIT view is that they do not share the Masonomics view of the real nature of government failure. It is not just that special interests can [...]
[...]
Contrary to the dismal picture that some recent studies have painted, the income security system is not broken, he [John Richards] says. Policies of the last decade got [...]
LONDON (AFP) - The BBC announced approximately 1,800 job cuts over the next six years in a statement released by the broadcaster on Thursday.I know I am dreaming, but I hope most of the cuts are among the leftist senior assignment editors [...]
Find out what the variable is today. Predict that value for the next month or quarter and you won't go far wrong.His point was that
It’s not just the tax rises, it’s also the rise in borrowings: and, even more than that, the rise in promises of future spending (on pensions and the like) which are not being accrued.
Future taxes have [...]
The joint-award of the Nobel Prize for Peace to US failed-Presidential candidate, Al Gore, is a dangerous disgrace, although one entirely to have been expected. ... ‘global warming’ is now the PC “clamour of the times”, especially in Old Europe - and Norway is Very Old Europe. The temptation to [...]
The point is this: most people do not study very [...]
'Hello, My Name Is Bob, and I Check My Email While on the Toilet'
... A society dominated by [...]
In the month since the NAS released its study, none of the schools covered by it has contested its findings. Because there might as well be signs on the doors of many schools of social work proclaiming "conservatives [...]
. 
... The 11 inaccuracies that the court found are not quibbles. They represent the film's most spectacular claims [...]
For three decades, water has been indispensable in sustaining the rollicking economic expansion that has made China a world power. Now, China’s galloping, often wasteful style of economic growth is [...]
Politicians are like bad horsemen who are so preoccupied with keeping in the saddle that they can't bother about where they go.That observation, sadly, [...]
Two guys are [...]
One of the biggest issues is just who is a journalist, or in the phrase the bill uses, a "covered person." Once that definition is clarified -- and even Judiciary members say it's not settled -- a journalist would under [...]
Canada's jobless rate unexpectedly fell to its lowest level since November, 1974, as the economy created [...]
When I first started teaching in Canada, I taught a course that met [...]
Your Worry Factor is 36% |
 You worry a little, but you usually don't go overboard. You know it's good to recognize your fears, as [...] Posted: October 07, 2007, 1:10pm EDT by EclectEconCould Larry Summers Speak at Columbia?Posted: October 07, 2007, 1:10am EDT by EclectEconSomething Else for Brit Academics to Boycott: Vowels
It seems that until vowels were invented by the Hebrews, writers didn't have them. I thought this was from Onion, but it is from the Jerusalem Post (h/t to Brian Ferguson):
"Roughly 3,000 years ago, in and around the area we now call Israel, a group of people who [...] Posted: October 06, 2007, 1:10pm EDT by EclectEconIs Dulse Dolce?Dulse (Palmaria palmata) - is a red seaweed that grows attached to rocks by a "holdfast" in the North Atlantic and Northwest Pacific. It is commonly used in Ireland and Atlantic Canada both as food and medicinally and is now shipped around the globe. Dulse is found in many [...] Posted: October 06, 2007, 1:10am EDT by EclectEconWestern Standard Stops Publishing Its Print Edition
This is a huge tragedy. Although I fervently disagree with so many of the Western Standard's writers who are non-libertarian social conservatives, the journal as a whole provided an important voice for the political right.
I am sure other print voices will emerge. Some thoughts:
Posted: October 05, 2007, 8:10pm EDT by EclectEconMinnesota Mother of Two Busted for File Sharing
It almost brings tears to one's eyes.... the thought that a midwestern mom might be sued by the big, evil recording companies for violating their copyrights by downloading files from the internet. See the story here. Here are some skeletal facts:
A jury has handed a victory to the [...] Posted: October 05, 2007, 1:10pm EDT by EclectEconThe Abrogation of Markets in British Columbia
Jack is spending some time in British Columbia. He writes that the provincially operated auto insurance is,
... far pricier than the private Ontario system, in part because of subsidies to bad drivers who wouldn't be insurable there.This is to be expected. If the risk pool includes people who [...] Posted: October 05, 2007, 1:10am EDT by EclectEconAn Observation on Perfection
My friend Lori writes,
Perfection is something that exists because there are examples of non-perfection out there, the NDP supporters being a text-book example…Note: the NDP is a Canadian political party made up of redistributionists in league with elitist interventionists. [...] Posted: October 04, 2007, 1:10pm EDT by EclectEconThe Antarctic Ice Mass is Growing, Not Shrinking
We may hear news stories about the receding glaciers in some places, but we never hear in the MSM about how temperatures in Antarctica are falling and the ice pack is growing. From Icecap [h/t to Melanie Phillips],
While the news focus has been on the lowest ice [...] Posted: October 04, 2007, 1:10am EDT by EclectEconWhy Bonds and Men are Different
Suddenly, as I was lecturing away in my finance course, it occurred to me, and I blurted it out: Bonds are different from men because bonds eventually mature.
(unless they are perpetuities, which, while they do exist in the real world, are mostly used to introduce present value concepts [...] Posted: October 03, 2007, 1:10pm EDT by EclectEconPeople Respond to Incentives: just can't stop it
It is reported* that Immanual Kant enjoyed telling this story:
A wealthy man died, and his heir had difficulties conducting the funeral. Complained the heir,Sometimes the response is not the desired one, though, especially if [...]The more money I give my mourners to look sad, the more pleased they look. Posted: October 03, 2007, 1:10am EDT by EclectEconOwners? Hoodies?
Have you noticed that when they show the owners' boxes at major league sporting events, none of them is wearing a hoodie? [...]
Posted: October 02, 2007, 1:10pm EDT by EclectEconRate My MD
Analogous to the (in)famous RateMyProf website, there is a site on which people rate their physicians. I love it. Here is the link for US doctors. Here is the link for Canuck Docs.
Some observations: Posted: October 02, 2007, 1:10am EDT by EclectEconShoplifting Seagull
Ms. Eclectic sent me a short version of this, which is making the e-mail rounds. Here's a longer version:
[...] Posted: October 01, 2007, 1:10pm EDT by EclectEconBrit Academic Union Cancels Plans for Boycott of Israeli Scholars
The British union of academics, the UCU, has, under legal advice, called off it's boycott of Israeli Scholars. From an announcement made by the International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom (of which I am a member),
UK Boycott of Israeli Academics Ruled Illegal Posted: October 01, 2007, 1:10am EDT by EclectEconI'm a Schizoid Animal
Peggy sent me this short questionnaire that is supposed to tell me what kind of animal I am. Here are the results:
You are either a Gorilla or a Porcupine personality.The site says I can be only one of [...] Posted: September 30, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconAfternoon Tea at The Dorchester
Voted #1 for afternoon tea in 2007. Click here to see what a posh afternoon tea setting should be like.
We gotta go there next spring. Now for all the readers, primarily North Americans, who don't know the difference, Afternoon Tea in a posh setting is [...] Posted: September 29, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconSoft-Core Libertarian
On Facebook and elsewhere, I list my political views as "Libertarian", which in my mind means favouring individual freedom and responsibilities over state or gubmnt interventionism.
I'm far from being a hard-core libertarian, though, as this quiz revealed. Depending on how I answered some of the questions, [...] Posted: September 28, 2007, 1:09pm EDT by EclectEconMercenaries
In today's NYTimes, Paul Krugman writes
As far as I can tell, America has never fought a war in which mercenaries made up a large part of the armed force, as is the case in Iraq.Similarly, so far as I can tell, America has never educated [...] Posted: September 28, 2007, 6:09am EDT by EclectEconWhere Is the Front Line in the War on Terror?
Because of the attack on The World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, we in North America tend to think we are on the front line in the war on terror. But Timothy Ash says we're mistaken [h/t to Judith]. Actually we think we're on the front line but we [...]
Posted: September 28, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconPigou Taxes and Junk Food
Last week I wrote about a Winnipeg school that has banned junk food and about the black market that emerged in the wake of the prohibition.
What if, in addition to the ban, the school set up its own sales but charged double the prices one might pay [...] Posted: September 27, 2007, 1:09pm EDT by EclectEconLeft-Wing Interventionism:Cherchez la Femme
I had long thought that one reason modern developed societies have more gubmnt intervention is that there is a positive income elasticity of demand for gubmnt-provided insurance [i.e. as we become wealthier, we politically demand that the gubmnt look after us more, especially regarding unanticipated negative events].
It [...] Posted: September 27, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconMore Blog Rankings
CurrencyTrading.net has done some re-organization and re-categorization in its latest list of the top 100 economics blogs. The entire staff here at EclectEcon (all 1 of us, though Brian Ferguson plays a big role, too) are pleased to see that EclectEcon is on the list and in some pretty [...]
Posted: September 26, 2007, 7:09pm EDT by EclectEcon"Higher Gold Prices? Blame Ahmadinejad, not Bernanke."
Are higher gold prices a sign that many investors are expecting the rate of inflation to rise rapidly?
Not necessarily, according James Pethokoukis, columnist with USNews. He summarizes strong evidence that inflation expectations are, if anything, dropping: Since their peak on September 20, the difference between nominal [...] Posted: September 26, 2007, 1:09pm EDT by EclectEconHow Can a Firm Declare a Dividend When It Is Experiencing a Liquidity Crisis?
I have not studied much accounting in the past 72 years, but my understanding of a liquidity crisis is that you're having one when you are short on funds although you expect to receive some in the future. As a result of this shortage, you borrow some to tide you [...]
Posted: September 26, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconJust Call Me "Maestro", II
I have just learned that I will be one of the guest conductors of the Muskegon [Michigan] High School alumni band this Friday, September 28th, at the high school football homecoming game.
They told me not to wear my tails. [...] Posted: September 25, 2007, 4:09pm EDT by EclectEconThe Underwear Model
King Banaian says that no matter what people say Alan Greenspan might have thought, sales of men's underwear are not a leading indicator of economic activity. [...]
Posted: September 25, 2007, 1:09pm EDT by EclectEconPrison Suicides: An Economics Perspective
In discussing the confusing and confused results and arguments about the deterrence effects of the death penalty, I once wrote that it did not surprise me that studies had conflicting results. In fact it would not have surprised me to learn that, in fact, the death penalty provides only minor [...]
Posted: September 25, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconWill the Nominal Rate of Interest Be 9% in the Foreseeable Future?
Former student Ravi sent me this item about Tiger Woods' possible pension funds. It asserts, in part,
If Woods keeps winning at his current rate, enjoys a nine percent annual return and captures just seven FedEx Cups in his career, he could reach $1 billion in retirement payouts courtesy [...] Posted: September 24, 2007, 1:09pm EDT by EclectEconBailing Out Banks: Can You Say "Moral Hazard"?
Northern Rock, a smallish bank in the UK, recently faced a potential liquidity shortage when it could no longer convert some of its assets [see Tim Worstall's comment for the correct details] into ready cash because nobody would buy those assets at any price other than a substantial discount [...]
Posted: September 24, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconKidney Stones
I've noticed that this site gets numerous visits from people looking for pictures of kidney stones. I posted one such picture back in July, but here is perhaps a better photo of two more stones that I got rid of a couple of weeks later:
 [...]
Posted: September 23, 2007, 1:09pm EDT by EclectEconFans and Sports: A Radical Proposal Reconsidered
While watching the Mets-Marlins baseball game last Thursday night, Ms. Eclectic and I were shocked and stunned to see that a Marlin fan had thrown a baseball onto the field and actually hit the Met's pitcher on the wrist [see this].
My immediate reaction was that the Marlins [...] Posted: September 23, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconHolocaust Denial, Anti-Zionism, and "Truth"
My friend Eric Litwack, a colleague at the International Study Centre in England, has an article in the most recent edition of Engage.
The article deals with historical truth, holocaust denial, and anti-Zionism. To me, the most pithy portion of the article is summarized as, ...[A]nti-Zionism and Holocaust [...] Posted: September 22, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEconExchange Rates and Strong Economies
I'm sure I am missing something, but why is it that strong economies cause the value of their country's currency to rise on the foreign exchange markets?
Doesn't a strong economy mean higher domestic incomes and hence more imports, thus putting downward pressure on the currency? Or is that [...] Posted: September 21, 2007, 4:09pm EDT by EclectEconThe Emergence of Black Markets When Products are Banned
When authorities ban a product, even if it is for our own good, some of us will gladly pay a big premium to get the product. We see it all the time.
One of the latest examples comes from Winnipeg [h/t to Brian Ferguson]: Students at a Winnipeg [...] Posted: September 21, 2007, 1:09pm EDT by EclectEconCSI Miami - It's the Sunglasses
I really don't much care for CSI Miami. It doesn't have much CSI in it, and it has far too much posturing. I do find it amusing, though, because of the over-the-top acting. So do others, I guess.
Here is a youtube video of David Caruso posturing with his [...] Posted: September 21, 2007, 1:09am EDT by EclectEcon |
[...]
