Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:
Evaluating TARP
advancingafreesociety.org
“TARP is not popular with most Americans. Economic evaluations now rolling in support their view, but rather than pointing fingers, it is time to absorb the lessons and take actions to remove the legacy costs and try to end government bailouts as we know them.”
Is the Press Causing More Damage than the Japanese Nuclear Accident Itself?
advancingafreesociety.org
“I have no scientific expertise on nuclear power plants. I followed closely at the time the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 and listened to accounts of a Russian nuclear scientist-friend who worked on the damaged roof of the Chernobyl plant the day after the explosion. He suffered no known health consequences.”
nytimes.com
“A sampling of recent research tries to understand the ties that bind.”
You Can’t Go Home Again
online.wsj.com
“Peggy Noonan’s lesson from the front: It’s easier to start a war than to finish one.”
John Wilson: What Happened to Heaven and Is Gandhi There?
online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, John Wilson writes about a new book stirring debate about the afterlife.”
Progressive Government Is Obsolete
online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, New York City Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith says that today’s bureaucratic rules and regulations stifle government workers’ creativity and prevent efficient city government.”
President ‘Present’
online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kimberley Strassel says Obama is dodging the big decisions to keep his approval ratings up until the 2012 election campaign begins in earnest.”
Millions saved in Japan by good engineering and government building codes
iii.org
“As the devastation in Japan achingly unfolds, it’s easy to learn about the thousands of deaths, the piles of debris, the washed-away homes and think, “Nothing could be worse.””
Why Official Bailouts Tend Not To Work: An Example Motivated by Greece
bepress.com
“Christophe Chamley of Boston University and Brian Pinto of the World Bank use recent events in Greece to illustrate that official bailouts tend not to work when countries have fundamental fiscal (‘insolvency’) problems and construct a two-period numerical example to explain why this should not come as a surprise.”
Deflation Dread Disorder “The CPI is Falling!””
bepress.com
“We’re suffering an epidemic of deflation dread disorder, according to Edward Leamer of UCLA who takes on the New York Times and leading talking heads. Leamer’s contention is that deflation is not so bad and maybe not coming.”
Japan Earthquake: before and after
abc.net.au
“Aerial photos taken over Japan have revealed the scale of devastation across dozens of suburbs and tens of thousands of homes and businesses. Hover over each satellite photo to view the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami.”
Spent Fuel Rods at Plant Pose Big Risk
online.wsj.com
“Japan’s nuclear crisis now hangs largely on whether it can get control over the radioactive waste held in pools of water at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi power plant.”
The Collapse of Internationalism
online.wsj.com
“Daniel Henninger writes in The Wall Street Journal that the Obama foreign-policy team is following precisely the agenda it laid out years ago—and is utterly failing its first real-world test in Libya.”
TARP Was No Win for the Taxpayers
online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, Paul Atkins, Mark McWatters and Kenneth Troske rebut the Treasury Department’s claim that the bank bailouts will return a profit to the taxpayers. Treasury is ignoring the fact that other more costly government programs are enabling the banks to repay their TARP funds.”
Our Anemic Recovery Continues
online.wsj.com
“Mortimer Zuckerman writes in The Wall Street Journal that who can blame consumers for holding back when 50 million Americans depend on taxpayer-supported programs? The modern-day soup line is a check in the mail.”
Freakonomics » Taking a Course From Gary Becker
freakonomics.com
I am DEFINITELY going to “sit in” on Gary Becker’s Econ 343 course on the theory of human capital, “…for which he won the Nobel Prize” (in 1992)…