Assorted Links (7/7/2010)

Q&A: Public vs. Private Equity – Fama/French Forum

www.dimensional.com

“Asset pricing theory suggests that less liquid assets should have higher expected returns to compensate for lower liquidity. Whether there is in fact a liquidity premium in the returns to private equity is, however, difficult to document. The problem is lack of data on private equity returns.”

The Paradox of Parenting – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“Parents don’t seem to enjoy parenting.”

Our Deeply Unethical National Organ Policy

www.american.com

“In our zeal to protect the poor from exploitation by the moneyed classes, the organ donor—alone among all the participants in the world of transplantation—receives no benefit.”

Stephen Moore: Why a Teacher Bailout Would Be a Mistake – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Stephen Moore says that unions will keep resisting reasonable concessions if Washington rides to the rescue.”

Joseph Rago: The Massachusetts Health-Care ‘Train Wreck’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The future of ObamaCare is unfolding here (in Massachusetts): runaway spending, price controls, even limits on care and medical licensing.”

Banking Bill Invites the Next Global Meltdown: Roy C. Smith

www.bloomberg.com

“The financial overhaul bill set for passage sometime next week is supposed to ‘bring accountability to Wall Street’… The final bill, though, does little to prevent a systemically important bank from failing, and makes it far more difficult for regulators to assist one seeking to avoid failure. This all but insures that the system-wide calamity the bill should be trying to prevent will, in fact, occur again.”

iHand Will Solve All Your iPhone 4 Reception Issues | Geeky Gadgets

www.geeky-gadgets.com

“If you have got yourself one of the new iPhone 4’s and are having reception issues then you may want to check out the iHand, which is designed to easily let you receive and make calls on your iPhone 4 without experiencing any signal drop.”

Review & Outlook: Expelled in Morocco – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that Morocco, a U.S. ally, is mistreating American Christians.”

Bret Stephens: A (Better) Reason to Hate BP – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Global View columnist Bret Stephens asks if BP lobbied to release Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in order to get an agreement with Moammar Gadhafi to begin deepwater drilling off Libya’s coast.”

George Melloan: Hard Knocks From Easy Money – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, George Melloan writes that the Federal Reserve is feeding big government and harming middle-class savers.”

Andrew G. Biggs and Jason Richwine: The Government Pay Bonus – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Andrew G. Biggs and Jason Richwine say there is a substantial pay gap that favors federal workers over comparable private-sector workers. Private employees toil 13½ months to earn what federal workers do in 12.”

Matthew Kaminski: We Can All Still Cry for Ghana – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Kaminski explains that while World Cup soccer is a beautiful game, it is also cruel and unfair.”

Green Menace

www.american.com

“To saddle hungry Haitians with American romanticism about agriculture is the worst kind of imperialism.”

Is Obama really a socialist? Some say so, but where’s the evidence?

csmonitor.com

“Some critics cite government ‘takeover’ of business and ‘giveaways’ to the poor as signs that President Obama is a socialist. Members of the Socialist Party are among those who disagree.”