UPDATE: Edited June 10, see below. From time to time I like to write my elected officials to ask questions about policy and about the communications that they send to us from time to time. We received a mailer from our local Assemblyperson Jennifer Lunsford at the beginning of May that was a marketing document […]
Category Archive for 'Politics'
Gerentocracy
Posted in Politics on Dec 15th, 2020
Our gerentocracy doesn’t suck because they are old. No, it sucks because their ideas have been terrible for 50 years, and they continue jamming them down our throats to this day. Have a nice day.
Red Meat
Posted in Environment, Politics, Tribalism on Jul 27th, 2017
Steak demand seems to be positively correlated with how red your politics are (HT: Jason Lusk and his Food Demands Survey).
Question on Term-Limits, Behavioral Economics Edition
Posted in Behavior, Constitution, incentives, Politics on Nov 15th, 2016
Alex Tabarrok has a post today supporting the idea of term limits. He, like me, seems to support them on the grounds that if you know the opposite party may soon be in office, that may soften your governing stand while in office. I want to believe this is what happens. But in a world […]
Well … that was interesting
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Politics on Nov 9th, 2016
Folks, remember, the Presidency doesn’t matter much – but I do think there is some writing on the wall from what we see from the messages that have resonated with voters … … we are a country of economic illiterates (and statistical ones too – ahem, polling and uncertainty bands anyone?). If there was ever […]
Political Thought for the Rest of the Year
Posted in Politics on Oct 24th, 2016
In addition to just not posting, I’ve definitely tried to avoid the muck of politics. One thing has really stuck with me however is that I think that the Democratic and Progressive left has turned into quite a selective conservative movement, much in the tradition of the modern conservative movement (does it exist?). What is […]
As Tyler Cowen Says, “Model This”
Posted in Macroeconomics, Politics on Aug 1st, 2016
This finding, while not surprising, is hard for me to square with the Political Economy we live in: On the Distribution of the Welfare Losses of Large Recessions by Dirk Krueger, Kurt Mitman, Fabrizio Perri – NBER WP#22458 How big are the welfare losses from severe economic downturns, such as the U.S. Great Recession? How […]
On Who Receives Government Transfers
Posted in If I Really Hated the Poor ..., Inequality, Politics, Special Privilege on Jun 27th, 2016
A very good and underappreciated site is Put a Number on It. Here, from a recent post on inequality, is not something many are familiar with: Transfers comprise social security and the rest of welfare. I gave $5,700 to every person over 65 and spread the rest based on number of children and distance from […]
Ponder This Over Your Memorial Day BBQ
Posted in Politics on May 27th, 2016
If someone had told two years ago that one party was going to run a ticket with two ex-governors who were regarded as competent and scandal-free while another party was going to run Trump, which would you have guessed would be the mainstream party and which would you have guessed would be the wacko third […]
What the Betting Markets are Telling Us
Posted in Politics on Apr 20th, 2016
Hillary in a landslide. Republican House Democratic Senate.