Assorted Links (8/20/2011)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Last Straw or Time to Buy?

online.wsj.com

“For many individual investors, the 419.63-point selloff by the Dow was a tipping point—many of them are finally throwing in the towel.”

Paul Krugman Is Still Wrong about Texas

www.nationalreview.com

“Kevin D. Williamson writes on NRO: Paul Krugman continues his campaign to discredit the economic success of Texas, and, as usual, he is none too particular about the facts.”

RealClearMarkets – Obama’s Jobs Policies Will Reduce Job Opportunities

www.realclearmarkets.com

“The White House announced that President Obama will deliver a major address on job creation early in September. Mr. Obama could address proposed Labor Department regulations that would hobble employers with paperwork, reducing hiring.”

Henninger: America’s Dog Days – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Wonder Land column, Daniel Henninger writes that the deeper some people get into politics, the more antipolitical it makes them.”

Report: State’s drought losses top $5 billion

www.statesman.com

“The Texas drought, lasting since fall 2010, has cost $5.2 billion to agriculture, a report said. This is now the most expensive year of drought, according to Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service economists.”

With a Math Proficiency Rate of 32 Percent, U.S. Ranks Number 32

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“Thirty-two percent of U.S. students in the class of 2011 were proficient in mathematics when they were in 8thgrade, according to the official U. S. report card on student achievement. Coincidentally, that places the United States in 32nd place among the 65 nations of the world that participated in PISA, the math test administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).”

Remembering the Berlin Wall

www.boston.com

In 1961, East Germany erected a wall — initially barbed wire, eventually concrete — in the middle of Berlin to prevent its citizens from fleeing the communist country to West Germany during the height of the Cold War. It has been reported that 136 people died while trying to escape, but the total number is unknown. The wall finally came down at the beginning of November in 1989, part of the reunification of East and West Germany.”

Exceptions to Keynesian Theory

economix.blogs.nytimes.com

“An economist concludes that Keynesian economic theory has too many exceptions to be reliable for policy analysis.”

Paul Meier – Statistican who saved millions of lives

significancemagazine.org

“The Kaplan-Meier estimator may not sound as if it is terribly important to most people’s lives. But if you have had a successful treatment for, say, cancer, or for diabetes, or for HIV/AIDS, or for heart disease, or for any one of dozens of other diseases or medical conditions, at any time over roughly the last fifty years, it may be that you owe your life to it and to one of the men who devised it.”

Lessons From Cloud Nine

online.wsj.com

“Bryan Caplan reviews The Happiness Equation: The Most Surprising Economics of Our Most Valuable Asset.”

Lesson From Europe (Take 2)

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Global View columnist Bret Stephens writes that social democracy clearly doesn’t ‘work.’”

The Fall of the Midwest Economic Model

online.wsj.com

“Michael Barone writes in The Wall Street Journal that in 1970, the economic future of the U.S. seemed to belong to Michigan’s example of big companies and big unions. Not anymore.”

Religion and the Cult of Tolerance

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Main Street columnist Bill McGurn writes that freedom of religion isn’t just about thought and speech.”

Life as an Academic Can Be Tough on Family

professional.wsj.com

“Academia seems like an attractive fit for a working parent, with its long summer vacations, flexible hours and the possibility of tenure — but academia may not be as family-friendly as it appears.”

Obama: Worst. Approval. Rating. Ever.

reason.com

“Gallup reports that President Obama’s approval rating is at its lowest point yet, with just 39 percent saying hail to the chief these days.”

World-Wide Wealth

blogs.wsj.com

“Why estimates of global stock-market losses in a recent slumping week varied by trillions of dollars.”

The Arab World Condemns Syria’s ‘Killing Machine’

professional.wsj.com

“Fouad Ajami writes in The Wall Street Journal that the least President Obama can do is call for Bashar Assad, the orchestrator of the Syrian slaughter, to step down.”

Chris Christie’s Cue

www.nytimes.com

“Yes, Republicans can do better than a Romney-Perry slugfest (with Michelle Bachmann as spoiler).”

‘Steady As You Go’ Still Good Policy for Uncertain Times

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“Forty years ago this month, President Richard Nixon sharply shifted hiseconomic policy in an interventionist direction with deleterious economic results that continued for a decade and provide lessons for today.”

Perry, Prayer, and Politics

www.thepublicdiscourse.com

I found this to be an interesting and thought-provoking essay from the Witherspoon Institute concerning the dynamics of the interplay between politics and religion…

McKinsey: U.S. Job Market Won’t Rebound for Years

www.bnet.com

“Although the financial crisis caused unemployment to soar, the labor market was lagging even before the housing crash. Are jobless recoveries the “new normal?””

Internships: A foot in the door?

www.cbsnews.com

“CBS Sunday Morning: Internships: A foot in the door? – Is it something young people can take advantage of, or are they being taken advantage of?”

Lack Of Rigor Leaves College Students ‘Adrift’

www.npr.org

“According to one study, more than a third of college students don’t measurably improve in critical thinking skills through four years of education.”