Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Nov 14th, 2016
Bank lending and TARP, dog bites man edition: “Together, these results suggest that political considerations influence credit allocation in a politically mature system like the United States without the formal possibility of political interference in lending decisions, and that this influence is larger if the flows between banks and politicians are reciprocal” Watts Bar Unit […]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Nov 13th, 2016
I just lost a bunch of bets, so why not one more (talk about irrational!). I do not think Donald Trump will last a full four years as President. How confident? I’d put it at 60%.
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jul 11th, 2016
To retire. The goal should really be the goal, right? While there will always be issues to fight for, if your goal is, for example, to “save the whales” we should aim to make sure whales are healthy and happy and numerous. Then the activism is over, no? Don’t get me wrong, this is not […]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jun 8th, 2016
We’ll be taking a hiatus for a while, not that we haven’t intellectually done so for the past 2+ years. In the meantime, I report now that (1) the union drive at U of R is likely toast, so thank you to all of you for your interest in that story; and (2) I see […]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Jun 6th, 2016
Healthy life expectancy has increased by 1.8 years since 1992. Disabled expectancy? Down a half-year. Shocker. Not. Supply shocks are expansionary, even at ZLB. All of this stuff about the “rules being different” at the zero lower bound astound me, as if there is some magic to the number zero as opposed to a number […]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on May 30th, 2016
Food stamps work. Sure to be widely reported on the right. Definitely spend the time to read this article on the Sugar Conspiracy.
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on May 25th, 2016
This morning, two different people sent me these two links: What the hell is going on? What the hell is going on? To answer Tyler’s question at the end of (1), I think we are going to find out.
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on May 23rd, 2016
Just because something is popular … you know, over 58% of my students favor eliminating studying as a requirement to do well in college; over 58% of the children in my kids’ school think Reeses Pieces are an essential part of a quality diet; over 58% of Catholics want the rest of the world to […]
Posted in Development, Flotsam and Jetsam on May 15th, 2016
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on May 9th, 2016
Forcing people to vote … only … forces people to vote. No improvement in election outcomes. I find it hilarious that we can call it a “democracy” if you are forced to vote. Why Dodd-Frank will fail? The history of deposit insurance shows that it increases systemic risk, and of course, is instituted as a […]