I could've sworn the clip from Bill Nye was "It's a gas!!", but my old age apparently has robbed me of my memory.
Anyways, everybody knows that the president can't affect gas prices... Let's hope more people see these sorts of articles and makes the connections. Articles include a commentary by Richard Thaler in the NY Times (via Mark Thoma) and an article in The Economist. More please, so we don't have any more confusion...
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Education in the US
... and the fight over government spending. Krugman links us to Jared Bernstein about education. Graph can be better viewed on the original post by Bernstein. While the percentage of younger adults who have a tertiary educations is higher than the percentage of seniors in most OECD countries, the US (along with Israel and Germany) isn't doing so hot; Bernstein and Krugman argue that it's an attack by the GOP on government funding of education. Bernstein points out the budget proposed by Rep Paul Ryan changes will "eliminate [Pell] grants for 400,000 students and cut grants for more than 9 million others in 2013 alone"; Pell grants are federal grants to assist students from lower income families to help pay tuition for college.
Krugman attests this to conservative distrust of science. While the graph is interesting (moderates used to science significantly more than conservatives?), I'm not completely sure I buy this. Most of those guys attended college, I'm sure, so I'd imagine they know that college and science are not the same thing. I wonder if this is more to do with the disconnect between social inequality, college, and being able to afford college. It doesn't seem like the GOP understands that to really be a "soon-to-have", you need something to get you there (some sort of education), and that "soon-to-haves" cannot afford this education by themselves.
Krugman attests this to conservative distrust of science. While the graph is interesting (moderates used to science significantly more than conservatives?), I'm not completely sure I buy this. Most of those guys attended college, I'm sure, so I'd imagine they know that college and science are not the same thing. I wonder if this is more to do with the disconnect between social inequality, college, and being able to afford college. It doesn't seem like the GOP understands that to really be a "soon-to-have", you need something to get you there (some sort of education), and that "soon-to-haves" cannot afford this education by themselves.
Oh Boy
Former NFL number two pick Ryan Leaf arrested on burglary and drug possession. This is made worse by the fact that he was on probation for crimes he committed in 2008 and was indicted for in 2009.
I was trying to think of some clever pun about how far a leaf falls from a tree, but it's just not a good pun to work with.
I was trying to think of some clever pun about how far a leaf falls from a tree, but it's just not a good pun to work with.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
How to Cure Tanking
From Adam Gold at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. (Via Katie Baker at Grantland) As soon as one gets eliminated, you earn points for wins and ties (as always), but these points go towards draft order. More points, higher draft pick. I like it, though it makes it tough for teams who are perpetually on the cusp to have a good chance of getting that one top pick which can push them to the top.
I've wanted to attend this conference for quite some time. However, I have very little background in sports analytics. I think I need to spend the summer reading all these sabermetrics books (and the respective sport analyses). Also, it would be pretty awesome, I think, for students to take a class in this; get more students interested in economic analysis.
I've wanted to attend this conference for quite some time. However, I have very little background in sports analytics. I think I need to spend the summer reading all these sabermetrics books (and the respective sport analyses). Also, it would be pretty awesome, I think, for students to take a class in this; get more students interested in economic analysis.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Permanent Fall in Potential Output
Mark Thoma contemplating Bernanke and DeLong&Summers. He wonders if the current high level of long-term unemployment is cyclical or structural. In other words, reduced (aggregate) demand or worsening mismatch between workers' skills and employers' requirements.
I wonder how either is possible as permanent shocks. People still like (buying) their stuff, and it's hard to imagine that employee/employer matching has suddenly become severely worse. I think we're still seeing the effects of financial constraints from the recession; it seems to me like a lot of inertia is involved, and we need to rethink how to attack these problems.
There is No Social Security Crisis
The Atlantic, via Mark Thoma. I'm not sure if the graph is really suggesting that there won't be a SS crisis, but it's emphasizing that Medicare (and health care in general) is more of a crisis. As long as the US can rev up output, we shouldn't have a problem, right?
Kentucky and College Basketball
Chuck Klosterman on UK basketball. He suggests that if Kentucky wins, the recipe for college basketball will change. Everyone will recruit the top one-and-dones and duke it out. I disagree because...
1) Kansas is going to win it all (disclaimer - Kansas fan)
2) As the article mentions, just assembling a buff team of NBA hopefuls doesn't mean you'll win it all
3) A lot of talent takes time to develop; a few freshman get selected as top picks, but there are other good basketball players who are upperclassmen, and this development can outweigh raw talent
This is an interesting phenomenon that Calipari is working with, as I've read before that his recruits don't fare significantly better than players from other colleges. Anthony Davis would be the number one pick no matter where he went, it's not like Calipari (necessarily) somehow developed him to be awesome.
1) Kansas is going to win it all (disclaimer - Kansas fan)
2) As the article mentions, just assembling a buff team of NBA hopefuls doesn't mean you'll win it all
3) A lot of talent takes time to develop; a few freshman get selected as top picks, but there are other good basketball players who are upperclassmen, and this development can outweigh raw talent
This is an interesting phenomenon that Calipari is working with, as I've read before that his recruits don't fare significantly better than players from other colleges. Anthony Davis would be the number one pick no matter where he went, it's not like Calipari (necessarily) somehow developed him to be awesome.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
History Lesson
Menzie Chinn with a history lesson on Econbrowser. The lesson isn't fantastic, but the post has a quote from Chinn and Jeffry Frieden's book that I like.
Though, I will add that I don't see a little borrowing as a problem; need some flexibility with funding items. I do agree that fiscal hawks need to actually think about what "raising revenues" actually entails when they complain about deficit spending.[T]rue fiscal responsibility involves a willingness to raise sufficient tax revenue, over the longer term, to pay for the programs the government implements. Fiscal responsibility should not be equated with a small government, but rather with a commitment to pay for the government services provided. ...... If the nation affirms that enhancing national defense and improving health care for the poor are legitimate goals, fiscal responsibility entails raising the revenue to fund these programs, rather than borrowing for them. (Chinn and Frieden, 2011, pp. 202-03.)
Medicare for All?
Robert Reich suggesting that Obamacare should really be Medicare for all. (Via Mark Thoma). During my break, I had a conversation with a good friend's father, who happens to be a private doctor. He's troubled by Obamacare and other sorts of government intervention in the medical field. Reich suggests that much can be solved by making Medicare an insurance source for all Americans, like Social Security is a retirement fund for everyone. He points to lower administrative costs, and how some of the problems private insurance companies are seeing are due to the "pre-existing health problems" mandate (my friend's dad also made note of this). I tend to believe that something as crucial as insurance shouldn't be profit motivated, or nearly as profit motivated as it likely is. I think a lot of problems with regards to health coverage is a poorly functioning insurance-health care partnership; there's a lot of limited coverage, you can only see certain doctors, doctors will only take certain insurance, etc. On the other hand, I lived in Montreal for 3 years, so I experienced government health care, and it's a mess. I wonder what (entirely) public insurance and (entirely) private doctors would look like. Government supported health care can be messy, but poor people have to see doctors, too.
Oh Acemoglu
One solid instrumental variable*, and your career is set. Article in Slate about The Hunger Games even makes a reference to you. The economics of the movie is all about colonialism, which I'm sure Acemoglu (and Johnson and Robinson) didn't come up with, but you get a few paragraphs talking about your research AND name dropping of your book. Alas, I clearly just need to come up with an amazing IV and I'll never have to work again!
*For those not in economics, an instrumental variable is a proxy for a variable which is quite possibly correlated with your dependent variable. AJR's paper notes that economic growth and institutions is a little chicken and eggy, so you need to find a proxy for institutions (in AJR's case, it's settler mortality).
PS. Gone for a few days, can't update blog, and suddenly, my blog views are up like 30 views... I should publish less often.
*For those not in economics, an instrumental variable is a proxy for a variable which is quite possibly correlated with your dependent variable. AJR's paper notes that economic growth and institutions is a little chicken and eggy, so you need to find a proxy for institutions (in AJR's case, it's settler mortality).
PS. Gone for a few days, can't update blog, and suddenly, my blog views are up like 30 views... I should publish less often.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Fan Violence
California bill could ban violent fans. I'm all for rooting for your team and making fun of other fans, but assaulting another team's fan is just ridiculous.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Inequality Buzz
A lot of buzz about inequality recently, in politicking and in the blogs I follow. Let the list commence!
Robert Reich on Social Darwinism - basically, the rich get richer, only the strong survive. This is case in point that some members of the GOP are using the budget deficit as a screen for leaving the poor out to dry; Paul Ryan's plan will end up with similar budget deficit levels.
John Sides via Mark Thoma about budgeting concerns - the GOP is actually not closely following its "constituents" as one might imagine; the guys upstairs want to cut SS, Medicare/aid, but a poll suggests that even Republican primary voters are against cutting these.
Roger Altman via Mark Thoma urging action - or rather, no more inaction on inequality. Do something about taxes and education, Altman says. A comment in the comments section suggests that globalization and union busting is a source as well, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. Globalization improves efficiency, and consumers greatly benefit from lower prices; you'll lose a few jobs, but I'm inclined to think those are low-skilled jobs, and we should be educating those people to be successful at high wage jobs. Unions can decrease productivity; when low-skill jobs really sucked, protecting the worker was crucial. Now, some unions are prone to inaction, being belligerent and protecting workers' jobs when the occasional guy really needs to get fired.
My two cents? Inequality is OK. REAL socialism (not "Obama socialism" crap) and communism was a disaster for quite a few countries. Not gross inequality, like what we're seeing, but some variation in wealth should be expected. It would be nice to change the mentality of "haves and have-nots" to "haves and soon-to-haves", but there's nothing that the (Republican) candidates are doing to suggest that they're working to ensure that people are actually in the "soon-to-have" arena. Alas, there seems to be no effort, and as the wise C-3P0 said "We seem to be made to suffer"; it's looking more and more like "haves and never-to-haves".
I could've sworn I've read way more stuff on inequality... This is an unfortunately wimpy list.
Robert Reich on Social Darwinism - basically, the rich get richer, only the strong survive. This is case in point that some members of the GOP are using the budget deficit as a screen for leaving the poor out to dry; Paul Ryan's plan will end up with similar budget deficit levels.
John Sides via Mark Thoma about budgeting concerns - the GOP is actually not closely following its "constituents" as one might imagine; the guys upstairs want to cut SS, Medicare/aid, but a poll suggests that even Republican primary voters are against cutting these.
Roger Altman via Mark Thoma urging action - or rather, no more inaction on inequality. Do something about taxes and education, Altman says. A comment in the comments section suggests that globalization and union busting is a source as well, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. Globalization improves efficiency, and consumers greatly benefit from lower prices; you'll lose a few jobs, but I'm inclined to think those are low-skilled jobs, and we should be educating those people to be successful at high wage jobs. Unions can decrease productivity; when low-skill jobs really sucked, protecting the worker was crucial. Now, some unions are prone to inaction, being belligerent and protecting workers' jobs when the occasional guy really needs to get fired.
My two cents? Inequality is OK. REAL socialism (not "Obama socialism" crap) and communism was a disaster for quite a few countries. Not gross inequality, like what we're seeing, but some variation in wealth should be expected. It would be nice to change the mentality of "haves and have-nots" to "haves and soon-to-haves", but there's nothing that the (Republican) candidates are doing to suggest that they're working to ensure that people are actually in the "soon-to-have" arena. Alas, there seems to be no effort, and as the wise C-3P0 said "We seem to be made to suffer"; it's looking more and more like "haves and never-to-haves".
I could've sworn I've read way more stuff on inequality... This is an unfortunately wimpy list.
Password Security
With all the hax happening on the interwebs these days, it's strongly suggested to have buff passwords. This article in The Economist is interesting in that it has research data on how break-able some passwords are. If a website limits its attempts to 10 (guesses), hackers can get through 1% of the time, and as many as 126 websites don't (attempt to) limit guesses. Using a mnemonic is suggested to make easy to remember/tough to crack passwords, but a 2006 study showed a 4% success rate using a dictionary of song lyrics, movie titles, and other pop culture goodness.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Opportunity vs. Entitlement
Nancy Folbre commentary on Romney accusing Obama of an Entitlement Society. I do think people who preach opportunity but accuse governments of entitlement need to explain the growth in inequality of income distribution before they can go around calling out people for too much entitlement. Clearly, there isn't THAT much opportunity going around, if the outcome isn't leveling out somewhat; I find it hard to believe that the equilibrium of butt loads of opportunity is a very high Gini coefficient. Further, giving kids a good education can hardly be called entitlement. I would agree with Romney if there was serious investment in colleges and universities, but the increase in student tuition and decrease in state and federal funding at colleges tell a different story. Either way, you need serious investment in primary and secondary education if you want to promote an Opportunity Society.
War of the Words
A combat of sorts, regarding the capital gains tax. Mankiw has an article in the NY Times, Uwe Reinhardt has a response, and Steve Landsburg has a response to Uwe. Easier to just link to Mankiw's blog, which has all 3 linked. What are my thoughts, you ask? Read on, I say.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Phony Kony
After this mess made by Jason Russell, one of the founders of Invisible Children (Kony hunters extraordinaires), I felt like some sort of thoughts could be put on paper. Always need a spring board, and why not Chris Blattman? I like Blattman's critique on advocacy: "successful advocacy often tells a simple story; simple stories usually lead to simple solutions; and simple solutions can do more harm than help. If you want to help, your first duty is to make sure you don’t make things worse". (I also think this analysis of Invisible Children, which can be applied to all advocacy groups, is awesome). So far so good. I disagree with Blattman's analysis.
One major concern I have is... Even though the LRA's actions are despicable, an interview with Kony I saw brought up a serious issue in Uganda. The LRA allegedly started their fighting because of the corruption in Uganda politics. I'm working on a paper related to corruption, and Uganda's government kind of sucks. Its democracy is somewhat of a sham. Throughout all this talk about Kony, why hasn't this been brought up? Save the children from Kony, and save the Ugandans from their government?
Suppose you believe (as I [Blattman] do) that capturing or killing Kony is the best of a bunch of bad options. And suppose you also believe (as I do) that, to capture or kill the man, Central African governments will need advanced military, intelligence, and special forces support.Capturing or killing Kony is irrelevant, from my understanding; the LRA is largely out of Uganda, and Kony hasn't had a presence for quite a few years. I'm not sure I agree with his latter conclusion, as well. The LRA is becoming more and more sparse; Uganda and other Central African governments have done fine without superior military might, intelligence, or special forces support. They need coordination, as with any fight with mobile guerrilla resistance units. Granted, awareness from the general public can motivate governments into some action.
One major concern I have is... Even though the LRA's actions are despicable, an interview with Kony I saw brought up a serious issue in Uganda. The LRA allegedly started their fighting because of the corruption in Uganda politics. I'm working on a paper related to corruption, and Uganda's government kind of sucks. Its democracy is somewhat of a sham. Throughout all this talk about Kony, why hasn't this been brought up? Save the children from Kony, and save the Ugandans from their government?
Economics Exceptionalism
Andrew Gelman on the buffness of economics. Actually, questioning how buff economics really is, but being an economics PhD student, I HAVE to think economics is buff... right?
The post analyzes the current status of economists and economics, and compares it to Freudian psych in the 1950s. Basically, [insert economics/psych] is the belle of the ball, and everyone is ogling. As always, I have some little thoughts about bits and pieces of the article (which is lengthy), and the other articles it points to (which get even lengthier). The background of the debate, I can put my views in quickly, but the recent debate (relating to Rush Limbaugh's garbage) sparks some other (unrelated directly to economics exceptionalism) comments which I've been pondering about, but have yet to publicly display.
The post analyzes the current status of economists and economics, and compares it to Freudian psych in the 1950s. Basically, [insert economics/psych] is the belle of the ball, and everyone is ogling. As always, I have some little thoughts about bits and pieces of the article (which is lengthy), and the other articles it points to (which get even lengthier). The background of the debate, I can put my views in quickly, but the recent debate (relating to Rush Limbaugh's garbage) sparks some other (unrelated directly to economics exceptionalism) comments which I've been pondering about, but have yet to publicly display.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Playlist from 3/16 Set
DJ Kno Kname Set:
Public Enemy - Bring the Noise
LL Cool J (is hard as hell) - I Can't Live Without My Radio
Run DMC - Can You Rock It Like This
Eric B (is president) & Rakim - Let the Rhythm Hit 'em
Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock
Naughty By Nature - OPP
A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?
Gangstarr - Step Into the Arena
Wu Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck
Aceyalone - Lonely Ones
Baby Bobby aka Little Digital Set:
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster (Jammin')
Ike & Tina Turner - Come Together
Aretha Franklin - Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning
Nina Simone - Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair (Verve Remix)
Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly
The Temptations - Just My Imagination (Motown Remixed)
Donny Hathaway - Little Ghetto Boy (Live)
Curtis Mayfield - Mighty Mighty (Live)
Isley Brothers - Love the One You're With (Live)
Lee Fields - Who Do You Love?
Scat Spiegel Set:
The RZA - Bebop (Live at the Rooftop) Remix
Charles Mingus - Moanin'
Duke Jordan - Night in Tunisia (Rebop Remix)
Thad Jones & Mel Lewis - The Big Dipper
Herbie Mann/Sam Most Quintet - Fascinating Rhythm
Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea - Liza (Live)
Wes Montgomery & the Wynton Kelly Trio - Four on Six
Thelonious Monk & Gerry Mulligan - Straight, No Chaser
Max Roach - Freedom Day
Public Enemy - Bring the Noise
LL Cool J (is hard as hell) - I Can't Live Without My Radio
Run DMC - Can You Rock It Like This
Eric B (is president) & Rakim - Let the Rhythm Hit 'em
Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock
Naughty By Nature - OPP
A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?
Gangstarr - Step Into the Arena
Wu Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck
Aceyalone - Lonely Ones
Baby Bobby aka Little Digital Set:
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster (Jammin')
Ike & Tina Turner - Come Together
Aretha Franklin - Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning
Nina Simone - Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair (Verve Remix)
Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly
The Temptations - Just My Imagination (Motown Remixed)
Donny Hathaway - Little Ghetto Boy (Live)
Curtis Mayfield - Mighty Mighty (Live)
Isley Brothers - Love the One You're With (Live)
Lee Fields - Who Do You Love?
Scat Spiegel Set:
The RZA - Bebop (Live at the Rooftop) Remix
Charles Mingus - Moanin'
Duke Jordan - Night in Tunisia (Rebop Remix)
Thad Jones & Mel Lewis - The Big Dipper
Herbie Mann/Sam Most Quintet - Fascinating Rhythm
Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea - Liza (Live)
Wes Montgomery & the Wynton Kelly Trio - Four on Six
Thelonious Monk & Gerry Mulligan - Straight, No Chaser
Max Roach - Freedom Day
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Soundtap Madness
Much like March Madness, except commercial-free radio style. Help KTUH dominate even more. Listeners log in and listen to their favorite radio stations. Radio station with top listener-minutes move on to the next round.
Internet Tethering
And I don't mean using your cell phone. The Economist has an interesting article about being handcuffed to technology (namely, smart phones). I'm hooked to my phone, but that's because working for a radio station that runs 24/7 means stuff can hit the fan at any time. Gotta make sure important texts, calls, and e-mails don't get to me too late.
And I write this post as my cell phone is turned off, due to running out of batteries. The irony.
And I write this post as my cell phone is turned off, due to running out of batteries. The irony.
Moral decay
Reich and Thoma on public vs private morality, via Thoma. I don't necessarily agree that what people do in their bedroom is their own business, but I do marvel at the hypocrisy of the Republican candidates. They want small government, but want to impose serious restrictions on the private morality of people. I agree that politicians should focus on the public morality side of things, and only private morality when it truly does have serious implications on the welfare of the nation. Gays being married, I don't think, will tear down the moral fiber of every American, nor will it harm the economics side of things. Access to contraception, if anything, makes people more productive, as they don't have babies to worry about - that is, of course, if they aren't spending more time canoodling since they don't have to worry about babies to take care of.
I will say that I think there is some private moral rot, but not in ways that the Republicans are suggesting. I think people should step up and be more responsible and more active, kinder to other folks, etc. Public moral rot, though, that's deeply concerning, and undermining "the integrity of [our] economy and democracy", that's not cool.
I will say that I think there is some private moral rot, but not in ways that the Republicans are suggesting. I think people should step up and be more responsible and more active, kinder to other folks, etc. Public moral rot, though, that's deeply concerning, and undermining "the integrity of [our] economy and democracy", that's not cool.
Touche
But not necessarily game, set, match. Bear with me as I think this through. Mark Thoma brings us to a Bruce Bartlett commentary regarding some logic used by Professor Allan Meltzer. (So if you want to refer to me for referring you to the above link, I think the easiest way would be to copy and paste that sentence, and add "via Wayne Liou, wannabe economics blogger").
There is evidence that policies don't do very well equalizing distribution of income, so Professor Meltzer denounces the point of policies. Bruce Bartlett counters that if policies don't matter, then it must be that higher taxes don't have as much of an effect on the (dis)incentive to work, which is mentioned in a later Thoma post (original article by Diamond). I don't think this is quite the right conclusion, but I agree in a sense.
Policies don't have an effect on equalizing distribution of income, not necessarily on productivity of the economy. Distributive policies could lower the income growth of both rich and poor people, so Professor Meltzer's warning makes sense. However, I've read that most people don't care about absolute wealth, they care about relative wealth, so the wealthy folk shouldn't be too considered about feeling poorer; the poor are poorer as well. So, since feelings won't be hurt with respect to feeling rich, we're looking at economic productivity/efficiency. Which brings us to the Diamond research, which says "Bring on the tax man".
There is evidence that policies don't do very well equalizing distribution of income, so Professor Meltzer denounces the point of policies. Bruce Bartlett counters that if policies don't matter, then it must be that higher taxes don't have as much of an effect on the (dis)incentive to work, which is mentioned in a later Thoma post (original article by Diamond). I don't think this is quite the right conclusion, but I agree in a sense.
Policies don't have an effect on equalizing distribution of income, not necessarily on productivity of the economy. Distributive policies could lower the income growth of both rich and poor people, so Professor Meltzer's warning makes sense. However, I've read that most people don't care about absolute wealth, they care about relative wealth, so the wealthy folk shouldn't be too considered about feeling poorer; the poor are poorer as well. So, since feelings won't be hurt with respect to feeling rich, we're looking at economic productivity/efficiency. Which brings us to the Diamond research, which says "Bring on the tax man".
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
More on College Athletes
Syracuse's Fab Melo ruled ineligible for tournament. What, did the school really think his grades would improve in a matter of weeks so he could play in March Madness? Another complete failure on a university's part to make sure these guys are students first, athletes second.
Weighing in on Scales
Krugman's example on when scales matter. Besides when you need to find out how much weight you've gained over Christmas and New Year's. Basically, if you're looking at a tiny scale, a boom is fantastic, but on a larger (national) scale, not so much.
I dunno, I think this is intuitive, and he could have come up with an example that wouldn't confuse anybody. If you win $500, you're pumped (I'm assuming you aren't particularly rich; if you were, I have no idea why you'd waste time with my blog). If Bill Gates finds $500, he's meh. The graph he provides comparing Pennsylvania and North Dakota hides a little of this; the amount of endowments increases, but the percentage increase in resources is drastically higher in North Dakota. I don't know who would argue that the discovery of energy resources in North Dakota (only) would have a crazy impact on the US as a whole...
I dunno, I think this is intuitive, and he could have come up with an example that wouldn't confuse anybody. If you win $500, you're pumped (I'm assuming you aren't particularly rich; if you were, I have no idea why you'd waste time with my blog). If Bill Gates finds $500, he's meh. The graph he provides comparing Pennsylvania and North Dakota hides a little of this; the amount of endowments increases, but the percentage increase in resources is drastically higher in North Dakota. I don't know who would argue that the discovery of energy resources in North Dakota (only) would have a crazy impact on the US as a whole...
Monday, March 12, 2012
Graduation Rates Among Athletes Improving
AP via ESPN, gap between graduation rates for African Americans and whites is decreasing. The unfortunate part is that over half of the change is the graduation rates among whites dropped by 3%... Not meeting standards is punishable by loss of scholarships, which doesn't make all too much sense to me.
Belts and Metaphors
Krugman says "Lose the Belt". Kinky, sorta? So what's the difference between a government and a family tightening its belt?
When a family tightens its belt it doesn’t put itself out of a job. When a government tightens its belt in a depressed economy, it puts lots of people out of jobs; and this is a negative even from the government’s own, narrowly fiscal point of view, since a shrinking economy means less revenue.I have beef with his metaphor comparison, especially in the Greece example. A family not doing so well slashes spending on inessentials, but shouldn't postpone (serious) medical care and other (essential) big expenses, nor quit their jobs and reduce their incomes. Austerity implies cutting everything, but I don't think that has to be the case. The government need not put itself out of a job. However, there are certainly many aspects of the government's spending habits that could be done more wisely. As conservatives say (but rarely actually mean), cut the fat.
Crazy Kids These Days
What is going on in Afghanistan? Army staff sergeant leaves base and kills 16 civilians. Afghanis seeing this as a plot, but Americans saying the guy acted alone. Irony(?) is that he was part of an operation trying to "develop close ties with village elders, organize local police units and track down Taliban leaders". From a macro perspective, the US Government isn't doing the best job in the world in the Middle East, but the micro side (individual soldiers) isn't really helping the cause. Burning Korans, killing civilians?
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Prestige
Fan of the movie, not of the ridiculous emphasis of it in the job market. (NY Times article via Mark Thoma) The article starts off talking about increases in higher education tuition, which can be attributed to a prestige chase - graduates from top schools get most of the attention on the job market, so there's a competition to hire top professors to make your school a "prestigious" top school, boosting professor salaries. Darn this stupid signalling effect. If a prestigious school was really tied to fantastic intelligence, I'd buy it, but while there most certainly is a (positive) correlation between the two, I wouldn't say the correlation is 1. I'd love to do a paper on this, see how much signalling is happening versus how much skill development/initial intelligence is happening, but as anybody who does research on human resource/education can tell you, evaluating skill development/initial intelligence is tough... If only I was incredibly intelligent and attending an Ivy League school, I'd be able to come up with a devious instrumental variable (*dripping sarcasm*).
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Ethics of (Macro)Economics
I'd like to see Krugman back his claims up. I can buy it, there are plenty of folks out there only interested in themselves, but it's not nearly as transparent in some cases.
Don't Hate the Player
Hate the game. Via Thoma, Krugman 'splains Santorum and Romney hating on the education game. It's completely incomprehensible why anybody would root for bringing down education. For someone who is Chinese, whose ancestors made the mistake of being all proud and full of themselves and shutting down the growth of knowledge, this is sad. It's one thing to argue something like the effects of economic policy. But taking a dump on education? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?? If Santorum thinks schools indoctrinate kids, then he should get people to step up and make schools "better", rather than tell people to be too cool for school. Disgusting. Maybe... unforgivable?
Speaking of Bounties...
Washington moving up the draft board, moving up to #2 for RG3. I'm a fan of RG3, but that's some serious booty to give up for RG3. Bountiful, even. I'm a Seahawks fan, and I would have loved to see the 'Hawks trade up for RG3, but trading away 3 years of firs round picks and this year's second round pick? Better draft really well in the later rounds...
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Equality of Opportunity
Awesome graph in this post by Krugman. I'm curious, though, how much of the difference in completion outcomes is related to income.
Romney is awfully cynical - "don't expect the government to forgive the debt you take on". If this is the mentality, we wouldn't have very many doctors or lawyers; med or law school without loans, yeah right. I think I'm convincing myself a little bit to agree with Romney... less lawyers... yum.
Also, if you don't go to the university with the highest price, you're not really getting equal opportunity. Harvard is a whole lot more helpful in changing your socioeconomic status than a small div III college close to home.
Romney is awfully cynical - "don't expect the government to forgive the debt you take on". If this is the mentality, we wouldn't have very many doctors or lawyers; med or law school without loans, yeah right. I think I'm convincing myself a little bit to agree with Romney... less lawyers... yum.
Also, if you don't go to the university with the highest price, you're not really getting equal opportunity. Harvard is a whole lot more helpful in changing your socioeconomic status than a small div III college close to home.
Libertarianism
Via Mark Thoma, Noah Smith on libertarianism and Yann Giraud.
Two quick things; (1) it's never safe to label political/economic ideologies in such general ways, and (2) I'm not a particularly huge fan of Milton Friedman, either.
(1) I have a friend who considers himself a libertarian, who is a bit idealistic like Milton Friedman, but he has some core differences with the stereotypical libertarian; I think the stereotype is because of hiding among the right wing folks, and not stepping it up and being "truly" libertarian. Some of those guys are only libertarian when it comes to money, and even then, being only concerned with free markets, they don't do a very good job of making "liberty" sound good...
(2) I'm all for free market, but Friedman only seems to see externalities and incentives when it means no government intervention, as opposed to when we should have some market controls. I recall seeing a video where he pwns a student wondering about an inheritance tax, but overlooks the flip side of inefficiencies when it comes to giving out inheritance.
Two quick things; (1) it's never safe to label political/economic ideologies in such general ways, and (2) I'm not a particularly huge fan of Milton Friedman, either.
(1) I have a friend who considers himself a libertarian, who is a bit idealistic like Milton Friedman, but he has some core differences with the stereotypical libertarian; I think the stereotype is because of hiding among the right wing folks, and not stepping it up and being "truly" libertarian. Some of those guys are only libertarian when it comes to money, and even then, being only concerned with free markets, they don't do a very good job of making "liberty" sound good...
(2) I'm all for free market, but Friedman only seems to see externalities and incentives when it means no government intervention, as opposed to when we should have some market controls. I recall seeing a video where he pwns a student wondering about an inheritance tax, but overlooks the flip side of inefficiencies when it comes to giving out inheritance.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Unforgivable x2
TMQ on Saints' bounty system, that is unforgivable indeed. Especially when it trickles down and affects kids at the high school level. As the guys at Hodge-Stansson's Production say, unforgivable.
Unforgivable
Jon Stewart summarizes this mess up pretty concisely and in somewhat humorous fashion.
I can empathize (somewhat) to various political/ideological/moral views which oppose my opinion - hence my whole "on the fence" spiel. Being a complete idiot (and jerk) about it is something that no one in their right mind should stand.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Back down to Earth
Ben Detrick wants the Linsanity to stop. Hear hear. The man (Jeremy Lin, not Ben Detrick) has done a fantastic job, coming out of nowhere and earning a starting job in the NBA, but his game still has holes. I like keeping things in perspective, and Detrick sums it up perfectly in his penultimate sentence:
Like most guys in the NBA, he’s neither a star nor a fraud — just a player who can do useful things in the right situation.I wish Lin nothing but the best. I just realize he has a long way to go before he can be as dominating as the media made him out to be when he burst onto the scene. No drooling from me yet, no sir.
Interesting...
Washington Post Editorial via Mankiw, Mankiw encouraging a Steven Chu (Energy Secretary) tax on gas, of up to $2 (it's currently less than 2 dimes) per gallon, of which the money is supposed to go towards road infrastructure. Mankiw is Romney's economics adviser, so if Romney goes along with this, I would imagine it'll be tough for Romney to win the Republican candidacy. (1) Taxes, (2) believing in the externalities of consuming gasoline.
I buy it, I think gas is pretty under-priced, even though the price is quite atrocious in Hawai'i. The only thing I wonder about is how elastic peoples' use of gasoline and driving really is. You can't do much about changing how far away your job is, and while I'm a big proponent of public transportation, it's a tough thing to rely on, and I can understand driving to/from work. Buying more fuel efficient cars is a possible outcome. Thinking out loud, though... most of a car producer's profits are from selling SUVs; would Detroit be in an even bigger mess if the gas tax had kept up with inflation? Conversely, it's possible people do end up taking more public transportation, and every place has a beastly public transportation system.
I buy it, I think gas is pretty under-priced, even though the price is quite atrocious in Hawai'i. The only thing I wonder about is how elastic peoples' use of gasoline and driving really is. You can't do much about changing how far away your job is, and while I'm a big proponent of public transportation, it's a tough thing to rely on, and I can understand driving to/from work. Buying more fuel efficient cars is a possible outcome. Thinking out loud, though... most of a car producer's profits are from selling SUVs; would Detroit be in an even bigger mess if the gas tax had kept up with inflation? Conversely, it's possible people do end up taking more public transportation, and every place has a beastly public transportation system.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
KTUH Action
Groove in the Garden, March 8, 5-8 PM
Radiothon Kick Off Party, March 15, 5-9 PM
KTUH Radiothon, March 18-24
But wait, there's more. Call now and get...
KTUH Radiothon DJ Night
I'm totally not cool enough to DJ for that last one...
Radiothon Kick Off Party, March 15, 5-9 PM
KTUH Radiothon, March 18-24
But wait, there's more. Call now and get...
KTUH Radiothon DJ Night
I'm totally not cool enough to DJ for that last one...
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Four Ponies...
... because they'll bring the APOCALYPSE?? Horsemen/ponyboys of the apocalypse? Oh, I missed an "H"?
Krugman presents... some phony arguments by the Republican candidates, updated version. Summarized, despite all their chatter, the four Republican candidates' plans might result in higher budget deficits. The shrewdness, the trickery.
Jon Stewart has more Republican trickery...
... and now, back to our feature presentation, Krugman's blog post.
Krugman presents... some phony arguments by the Republican candidates, updated version. Summarized, despite all their chatter, the four Republican candidates' plans might result in higher budget deficits. The shrewdness, the trickery.
Jon Stewart has more Republican trickery...
... and now, back to our feature presentation, Krugman's blog post.
Smart Jocks?
ESPN's Page 2 presents a study which found that student athletes might be more intelligent than the stereotype (damn these stereotypes *shakes fist*!) might suggest.
There are some concerns with the measurement of the intangible categories the researchers used, and it's true that student athletes, in general, start a bit lower on the academic ladder, thus have more room for improvement, but I believe some of the speculation on why this might be.
There are some concerns with the measurement of the intangible categories the researchers used, and it's true that student athletes, in general, start a bit lower on the academic ladder, thus have more room for improvement, but I believe some of the speculation on why this might be.
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