The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. – F.A. Hayek
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jul 1st, 2011
Our organization was able to have a reading group last semester in part due to about $7,000 worth for funding from a Koch supported charity. We accepted that money so that we could plot, every Sunday evening, how to take over America, so that each and every one of us could get loaded. Maybe there’s [...]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jul 1st, 2011
With the 4th of July around the corner, I figured it was as good a time as any to revisit something I put together 5 years ago. Many of my current readers were not with us back then, so here is a little bit about where I came from and what has shaped my thinking [...]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jun 24th, 2011
On this lovely rainy day (no doubt caused by Global Warming) I am cozying up to the Bill McKibben reader. In it is this gem (among thousands of others): So here’s my plan. Let’s give global warming a new, scarier name. El Piquante Grande perhaps? Or La Chaleur Enorme. Do these sound malevolent enough? How [...]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jun 22nd, 2011
When I am in my car, especially if I plan to be in it for a while, I carry a Flip video camera with me. I usually carry it so that I can film something cool that I drive past — such as a field of sunflowers, a cool looking barn, etc. But I also [...]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jun 16th, 2011
I’m a bit nostalgic today for when we were a little more honest about ourselves:
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jun 7th, 2011
Some time ago I began a series directed at my Wintercow kinfolk so to speak. Here is the next in the series. While I am as alarmed at government spending and government budget deficits as the most aggressive budget hawks out there, I believe that a dangerous narrative is floating beneath some of the disucssion. [...]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Jun 1st, 2011
My alumni magazine came in the mail the other day, and per usual the thing elevated my blood pressure. Here is a letter from a current graduating senior when asked the question, “What’s the greatest myth about your generation?” … is that we are depoliticized. What kind of a myth is that? I cannot remember [...]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on May 17th, 2011
Hi everyone, for the next couple of weeks I will be largely off-grid. I have pre-posted several pieces to go up while I am away, and I have arranged for at least one guest blogger and hopefully for a couple more in the time I am away. This will be one of three such absences [...]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on May 13th, 2011
Perhaps this is why my new undergraduate organization is not (perhaps ever) yet affiliated in any way with my university. Now, I have no reason to believe that I would be treated the same way outside of what I see happening at other schools. I’m just super reluctant to do anything that has a classical [...]
Posted in Economics Problems, Flotsam and Jetsam on May 11th, 2011
We just completed our finals here at the University of Rochester. It is probably the most frustrating time for me as a Professor. No, it’s not because I do not like grading. It’s probably closer to the opposite — grading finals gives me a terrific chance to see how well our kids write, how well [...]
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)