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

Apple Now Has More Cash Than The U.S. Government

finance.yahoo.com

Hat tip to my good friend Ebbesen Davis for pointing this fact out to me!

The Road to a Downgrade

professional.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal gives a short history of the entitlement state.”

Warren Buffett Is Wrong on Taxes

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Stephen Moore writes that millionaires and billionaires already pay a higher share of their income in taxes than the middle class.”

The GOP’s Secret Weapon—Flower Power

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Karlyn Bowman and Andrew Rugg write that aging baby boomers increasingly identify as conservative.”

China’s Banned Churches Defy Regime

professional.wsj.com

The struggle between China’s underground Protestant churches and the government is shaping up as the tensest standoff over religious freedom in China since a brutal crackdown on Falun Gong in 1999.

Emergency Team Of 8th-Grade Civics Teachers Dispatched To Washington

theonion.com

“With lawmakers still at an impasse over increasing the debt ceiling, a special team of 40 eighth-grade civics teachers was air-dropped into Washington earlier today in a last-ditch effort to teach congressional leaders how the government’s legislative process works.”

Notable & Quotable

professional.wsj.com

“Robert Rector on quality of life and the American poor.”

The Antidote for Socialism

professional.wsj.com

“We’ll have to wait for 2012, because this administration won’t administer it, Pete du Pont writes.”

Amy Winehouse’s Killers

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Sally Satel writes that attributing the British pop star’s demise to addiction is a regrettable oversimplification of what went wrong.”

How to fix higher education

slate.com

“The journalist and writer Anya Kamenetz once said that graduate students are “really smart suckers,” and I—as a Ph.D. who teaches at a liberal arts college—couldn’t agree more. It’s my view that higher education in the humanities exists mainly to provide cheap, inexperienced teachers for undergraduates so that a shrinking percentage of tenured faculty members can meet an ever-escalating demand for specialized research.”

Robin Hood Can’t Lead Us Out of the Debt Hole

online.wsj.com

“Robert Barro of Harvard University writes in The Wall Street Journal that President Obama’s obsession with higher taxes on the rich isn’t helpful.”

Five Facts About the Debt

reason.com

“Setting the economic record straight.”

Chart of the Day: The Higher Education Bubble

blog.american.com

“AEI’s Michael Barone wrote recently about the higher education bubble, which could also described as a “low-interest education loan bubble” to reflect the government’s role in subsidizing higher education, similar to its role in subsidizing homeownership.”

Tim Groseclose’s New Book on Liberal Media Bias

freakonomics.com

“My good friend and co-author Tim Groseclose has a new book out entitled Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind. As the title suggests, it has a definite conservative slant. It is not, however, a right-wing rant by any means. Rather, it is a carefully researched and amusingly written book by a highly regarded academic.”

Health Is the Health of the State

www.american.com

“Between 1966 and 2007, the entire increase in the size of government relative to the economy resulted from growth in tax-financed health spending.”

Why the Fed Is Not Independent

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Gerald O’Driscoll writes that the Federal Reserve’s foray into fiscal policy makes for a volatile political mix that all but guarantees control from without.”

The Flight to the Exchanges

professional.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that ObamaCare may cause small businesses to drop insurance coverage.”

The Debt Ceiling and the Pursuit of Happiness

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Arthur C. Brooks writes that a welfare state that led to permanent austerity would betray the principles that have made American culture exceptional.”

The Downside of Mandated Sick Leave

professional.wsj.com

“Nearly 30% of its lowest-wage earners reported reduced hours or layoffs after San Francisco passed a paid-leave ordinance.”

Toying With Default

professional.wsj.com

“The President isn’t serious about real spending cuts.”

Missing Milton Friedman

economist.com

“TIM LEE asks an important question: why are conservatives and libertarians so uniformly hawkish about inflation? Mr Lee (a friend and former colleague) notes that this regularity is far from inevitable.”

Greg Mankiw Recommends Reading These 18 Economics Books

farnamstreetblog.com

“If you’d like to read more about economics issues try these 18 books reccommended by Greg Mankiw, author of Principles of Economics.”

27 Club: Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain & Other Members

thedailybeast.com

“With her death this week, Grammy-winning retro-singer Amy Winehouse joined a tragically long list of iconic, often tortured artists who died at 27, including Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Together, they are known as the “27 Club.” Read their stories.”

U.S. Default Insurance Has Quirks

professional.wsj.com

“Investors looking for protection against a U.S. debt default could be in for a surprise. In the market for credit default swaps, it is currently more expensive to buy one-year insurance on Treasurys than on junk-rated Indonesian bonds.”

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading (and videos that I have been viewing) lately:

Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

“TED Talks Economics writer Tim Harford studies complex systems — and finds a surprising link among the successful ones: they were built through trial and error. In this sparkling talk from TEDGlobal 2011, he asks us to embrace our randomness and start making better mistakes.”

McGurn: Are You Better Off? – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Main Street column, William McGurn writes that President Obama will have to answer the question Reagan asked in 1980.”

Peter Wallison: Government-Sponsored Meltdown – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Peter Wallison writes that Fannie Mae did not contribute ‘marginally’ to the financial crisis, but was the source of the declining mortgage underwriting standards that brought down the system.”

John H. Cochrane: The More Bank Capital, the Safer the Bank – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“John H. Cochrane writes in The Wall Street Journal that even under Dodd-Frank, banks need buffers of capital to protect taxpayers and the financial system.”

Can President Obama keep paying Social Security benefits even if the debt ceiling is reached?

www.washingtonpost.com

“President Obama says he may not be able to keep paying Social Security benefits if the debt ceiling is reached. There’s fierce debate about whether that is accurate.”

Review & Outlook: The Obama Downgrade – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal on the real reason the U.S. could lose its AAA rating.”

This Is No Time for Games – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“Ronald Reagan wouldn’t be playing ‘Targeted Catastrophe,’ Peggy Noonan argues.”

Anne Jolis: Greece—Where Profit Is Taboo – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Anne Jolis interviews Greek shipping magnate John Coustas about the fate of his country.”

Montreux fetes Miles Davis with “soundtrack” to his life

news.yahoo.com

“Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Marcus Miller paid tribute to their friend and mentor Miles Davis…”

Obamageddon Coming to a City Near You? | Via Meadia

the-american-interest.com

“The election of the first African-American president was widely hailed as a giant step forward for American racial politics. The future, however, may remember this administration asa giant step back for Black America during a period of deepening alienation, anger and despair in America’s inner cities.”

Kenneth C. Frazier: Will Washington Find the Cure for Cancer?

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier writes that government boards and drug price controls threaten to throw sand in the gears of medical progress.”

Best of the Web Today: Raise Taxes or Granny Gets It

online.wsj.com

“James Taranto on the liberal media’s idea of a grown-up.”

The President’s offer is left of Bowles-Simpson

keithhennessey.com

“Unlike the Bowles-Simpson package, the deal Republicans are being offered by the President is such a bad one that it’s not really a tough call.”

The Method to Their Madness

www.nytimes.com

“There are reasons why the Republican Party has its heels dug in on the debt ceiling.”

Nanny Steven Chu: “We Are Taking Away a Choice that Lets You Waste Your Own Money!”

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“Steven Chu was a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. That he developed methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light does not mean he understands economics, consumer choice, or politics. A Nobel Prize does not even guarantee common sense. Often it guarantees the opposite.”

Economic Freedom & Quality of Life

www.youtube.com

“Economic Freedom and the Quality of Life is a short, informative video centered on the ideas of economic freedom and the societal benefits it produces. The video helps explain what economic freedom is and why it’s key to improving society.”

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

3D Printing Will Revive American Manufacturing

blogs.forbes.com

“The transformative technology of the 2015-2025 period could be 3D printing. This has the potential to remake the economics of manufacturing from a large-scale industry back to an artisan model of small design shops with access to 3D printers. In other words, making stuff, real stuff, could move from In other words, making stuff, real stuff, could move from being a capital intensive industry into something that looks more like art and software. This should favor the American skill set of creativity.”

A Tale of Two Job Markets: Today & ’83-’84

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“Today’s jobs report provides yet more evidence that this is a recovery in name only. The 9.2 percent unemployment rate is certainly a serious problem, but you can understand the problem a little better by looking at the percentage of working-age Americans who are actually working. This percentage declined again to 58.2 percent in June, and is well below what it was when the recovery officially began.”

Freakonomics » Hey Baby, Is That a Prius You’re Driving?

www.freakonomics.com

The authors of a study cited here find that consumers in Colorado and Washington are willing to pay $430 to $4,200 for the utility value of “conspicuous conservation” associated with purchasing a Toyota Prius. Interestingly, this effect is lacking for comparable hybrids such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Camry, cars which (unlike Prius) are manufactured as identically designed gas powered vehicles.

Freakonomics » The Wastefulness of New Jersey’s Gas Pumping Restrictions

www.freakonomics.com 

“Driving through New Jersey, we stop for gas and sit for a few minutes until the attendant comes to fill our tank. My son tells me that is because New Jersey has one of most wasteful restrictions in the Union: there is no self-service gasoline; all gas must be pumped by an attendant. This wastes drivers’ time — it’s almost always quicker to pump gas oneself.  The labor of the attendants is thus devoted to generating economic waste and could be spent productively elsewhere rather than in promoting economic inefficiency.”

Celebration: It’s Day 800 Since Senate Dems Passed a Budget

townhall.com

“Today marks the 800th day since the Senate Democrats passed a budget. For more than two years, democrats have ignored their legal obligation to pass a budget, while we’ve seen federal spending spiral out of control. Considering democrats have controlled the White House and the Senate for more than two years, with total democrat control between 2008 and 2010 in the House, Senate and White House, the failure lies with President Obama and democrat congressional leadership.”

The Divorce Generation

professional.wsj.com

“After surviving the wreckage of their own split families, Generation X parents are determined to keep their marriages together. It doesn’t always work out.”

iowahawk: Questions, So Many Questions

iowahawk.typepad.com

“President Obama graciously offered to take questions submitted via Twitter today, courtesy the #AskObama hashtag. Being an inquisitive sort, I decided to submit a few that have been nagging me.  Although he declined to answer any, I thought I’d warehouse them here in case he ever gets around to them.”

We Need a Ronald Reagan

professional.wsj.com

“Europeans pay tribute to a great American—and long for another. Peggy Noonan reports.”

Redefining “balance”

keithhennessey.com

“Over the next few weeks, you should be skeptical of anyone’s attempt to claim an objective measure of a particular deficit reduction package as balanced or unbalanced. You’re almost certainly being spun.”

The beautiful tricks of flowers

www.ted.com

“In this visually dazzling talk, Jonathan Drori shows the extraordinary ways flowering plants — over a quarter million species — have evolved to attract insects to spread their pollen: growing ‘landing-strips’ to guide the insects in, shining in ultraviolet, building elaborate traps, and even mimicking other insects in heat.”

Overcaffeinated CAFE

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman Jenkins writes that President Obama’s crusade to increase automobile fuel-economy standards makes little economic sense—and it won’t save the planet.”

A Debt-Limit Breakout

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that Republicans should agree to fewer business tax deductions in return for a lower corporate tax rate.”

The Moral Outrage of ‘Missing’ Girls – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Main Street columnist William McGurn writes about the debate between Maria Hvistendahl and New York Times columnist Ross Douthat about the morality of sex-selective abortion.”

Malpass and Moore: America’s Troubling Investment Gap

online.wsj.com

“David Malpass and Stephen Moore write in The Wall Street Journal that for the first time in decades, America is on net losing, not attracting, growth capital.”

John Steele Gordon: The Rise and Needless Decline of the Golden State

online.wsj.com

“John Steele Gordon writes in The Wall Street Journal that more Americans left California than arrived in the last decade. What caused this great migration? Politics.”

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

American Exceptionalism

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Is There a Shortage of Primary Care Physicians?

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“Until the early part of the twentieth century, practically all physicians in the United States and elsewhere were primary care physicians, not specialists. his changed dramatically in all developed countries over the remainder of that century, so that at present, over 75% of all American doctors specialize in fields like surgery, cardiology, dermatology, urology, and oncology.”

Burning down the house

www.washingtonpost.com

“How a Dem operative started the financial crisis.”

Invisible sieve

www.economist.com

I agree with Mr. Pariser; I am concerned about the “filter bubble”, which he defines as “”a unique universe of information for each of us”, meaning that we are less likely to encounter information online that challenges our existing views or sparks serendipitous connections. “A world constructed from the familiar is a world in which there’s nothing to learn,” Mr Pariser declares. He calls this “invisible autopropaganda, indoctrinating us with our own ideas”.”

The Future Still Belongs to America

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Walter Russell Mead writes that the 21st century will throw challenges at everyone—and the U.S. is better positioned to adapt than China, Europe or the Arab world.”

For Whom The Greek Bell Tolls

www.forbes.com

Steve Forbes asks, “Why is Greece such a basket case? And what are the implications for Europe and the U.S.?”

Ronald Reagan, champion of freedom

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“Fifty-five years ago, freedom reigned for a brief moment in Communist Hungary. On October 23, 1956, student protesters marched through the streets of Budapest demanding an immediate end to their Soviet-dominated government.”

The GOP’s Debt-Ceiling Divide

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Potomac Watch column, Kimberley Strassel writes that the Biden talks are giving budget hawks a chance to carve away some of the Republicans’ own sacred-cow subsidies.”

A Debt-Limit Election

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Wonder Land columnist Dan Henninger writes that what began as a technicality has become a metaphor for the stakes in 2012.”

Review & Outlook: Obama’s Real Revenue Problem – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal says tax receipts are low because of the mediocre economic recovery.”

Obama Calls People Earning $250,000 a Year ‘Jet Owners’

blogs.wsj.com

“President Obama has a new term for the people he wants to tax more: jet owners. The problem is that most people that would be subject to the higher taxes the president wants aren’t likely to be private-jet owners.”

The missing facts in President Obama’s news conference

washingtonpost.com

“The president left out a few details when he denounced Republicans on taxes and discussed Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.”

Gators get their move on in Texas

Source: statesman.com

I didn’t realize until now that the great state of Texas has a gator population in the range of 250,000 to 500,000!

Who Owns Risk?

www.cfo.com

“The ultimate responsibility for risk management has shifted away from the CFO.”

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

The Deficit Is Worse Than We Think

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Lawrence B. Lindsey writes that higher interest rates, slower economic growth and a more costly ObamaCare would mean escalating deficits for years to come, regardless of whether a budget deal is struck.”

A Review of HBO’s “Too Big To Fail”

realclearmarkets.com

“Nearly three years after the worst of the financial crisis, we are still living with its residue of slow growth, anemic job creation, and a moribund housing market. On top of these real-life reminders have come movie depictions of the crisis, including the May 2011 HBO version ofAndrew Ross Sorkin’s book Too Big to Fail, and the 2010 Academy Award-winning Inside Job.”

Notable & Quotable – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“Economist Steve Hanke on the failure of deficit spending to revive the economy.” (note: This is an excerpt of Professor Hanke’s article; the full version is available at http://bit.ly/iK9wqf.)

160 Million and Counting

www.nytimes.com

“Abortion and the tragedy of the world’s missing women.”

Q&A with Russ Roberts and John Papola

www.c-spanvideo.org

“Economics Professor Russ Roberts, and host of the weekly podcast series “EconTalk,” and John Papola, a filmmaker and entertainment marketing executive, have collaborated on the creation of two rap videos about economics.”

The Failure of Al Gore: Part Deux

blogs.the-american-interest.com

“That Al Gore’s definitive statement on the crisis of the climate change movement appeared in the back pages of Rolling Stone magazine rather than in a more prominent and prestigious location is one sign of the decline in his reputation.”

An ObamaCare Legal Precedent?

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey write about the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Bond v. United Sates, which gives a boost to the doctrine of enumerated powers and could have far-reaching implications for ObamaCare.”

Why Your Car Doesn’t Have a Spare Tire

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Sam Kazman says the government’s CAFE standards means lighter cars, which results in thousands of additional traffic deaths per year.”

The Local Government Pension Squeeze

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Steve Malanga reports on the severe budget problems of municipalities, thanks to growing pension costs and other retiree benefits.”

Are Catholic Colleges Catholic Enough?

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Houses of Worship column, Patrick J. Reilly writes that federal regulators want to pass judgment on the religious character of schools.”

GOP Governors Are Showing the Way

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell writes that state Republicans are tackling the issues voters want addressed—and that’ll be a major asset for the party’s presidential nominee in 2012.”

Debt Hamstrings Recovery

“Around the globe, the inability of governments and households to reduce their debt continues to cast a shadow over Western economies and the financial health of individuals.”

Bummer of a Recovery

online.wsj.com

“On economic growth, real GDP has risen 0.8% over the 13 quarters since the recession began, compared to an average increase of 9.9% in past recoveries.”

Why the Old Jobs Aren’t Coming Back

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Nobel laureate Michael Spence writes that old jobs aren’t coming back, but smarter tax policies and collaboration between the public, private and labor sectors can help make the U.S. competitive again.”

The Drug War: What is It Good For?

blogs.forbes.com

“Absolutely Nothing. Let’s end it.”

Did the Stimulus Stimulate? Real Time Estimates of the Effects of the American Recovery and Reinvest

papers.nber.org

From Dartmouth, here’s the latest empirical assessment of the economic impact of the Feb. 2009 “stimulus” act: “A cross state analysis suggests that one additional job was created by each $170,000 in stimulus spending. Time series analysis at the state level suggests a smaller response with a per job cost of about $400,000… Grants to states for education do not appear to have created any additional jobs.”

Obama vs. ATMs—Why Technology Doesn’t Destroy Jobs

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Russell Roberts of George Mason University writes that doing more with less is what economic growth is all about.”

The Two Year Anniversary of the Non-Recovery

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“This month marks the two-year anniversary of the end of recession and start of recovery. But it’s a recovery in name only, so weak as to be nonexistent. And it has been weak from the start.”

Shlaes: Remember the lessons of the 1980s to avoid a double-dip recession

“Is our economy headed back into a recession? A look at a past double-dip, the recessions of 1980 and of 1981-1982, suggests we are due.”

The Failure of American Schools – Magazine – The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

Among other things, I learned that 1) “The average NYC teacher works fewer than seven hours a day for 185 days and costs the city $110,000-$71,000 in salary, $23,000 in pensions, and $16,000 in health and other benefits”, and 2) “It’s possible for a teacher in New York City to retire at 55 and draw down an annual pension of more than $60,000, plus lifetime health benefits…”

Post office suspends retirement contributions

suntimes.com

Quoting from this Associated Press article, “The agency (USPS) said Wednesday it is acting to conserve cash as it continues to lose money. The post office was $8 billion in the red last year because of the combined effects of the recession and the switch of much mail business to the Internet. It faces the possibility of running short of money by the end of this fiscal year in September.”

The Surprising Roots of Liberal Nostalgia

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Michael Barone writes that World War II created confidence in large institutions and big government. But today, few Americans would want to go back to the cultural conformity of the mid-20th century.”

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

Adam Smith: An Overview of His Ethical Vision

vimeo.com

“Daniel Klein offers an overview of Adam Smith’s ethical vision. Focusing on Theory of Moral Sentiments, Klein highlights key ideas favoring the equal-equal relationship and minimizing the superior-inferior relationship. Klein highlights Smith’s liberalism, the presumption of liberty. An extension of Theory of Moral Sentiments, Wealth of Nations is Smith’s instruction at the wide “fourth source” of moral approval.”

Is weather becoming more extreme?

www.boston.com

Interesting photo essay about climate change from the Boston Globe’s “Big Picture” website…

Five Lessons for Deficit Busters

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Michael J. Boskin of Stanford University writes that a recent study of successful deficit reductions found they averaged more than $5 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes.”

Stephens: A Republican Foreign Policy – WSJ.com

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Global View columnist Bret Stephens writes that credibility—not consensus—should be the GOP’s watchword.”

Blue State Schools: The Shame of a Nation

blogs.the-american-interest.com

“When it come to excellence in education, red states rule — at least according to a panel of experts assembled by Tina Brown’s Newsweek. Using a set of indicators ranging from graduation rate to college admissions and SAT scores, the panel reviewed data from high schools all over the country… Three of the nation’s ten best public high schools are in Texas – the no-income tax, right-to-work state that blue model defenders like to characterize as America at its worst.”

Japan: three months after the quake

www.boston.com

Amazing photo essay about the aftermath of the March 2011 Japan earthquakes from the Boston Globe’s “Big Picture” website…

Paul Krugman: The Prophet of Socialism

www.nationalreview.com

Interesting (conservative) assessment of the punditry of Nobel Economics laureate and Princeton economist Paul Krugman – I particularly appreciate Mr. Luskin’s 94 column, 5 year effort called the Krugman Truth Squad (cf. http://www.luskin.net/krugmantruthsquad.pdf)…

Uncertainty Is Not the Problem

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Clifford S. Asness writes that it’s not the policies we don’t know about that are retarding the economy—it’s the bad policies we have.”

Rivkin and Casey: Why ObamaCare Is Losing in the Courts

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey write that the government’s lawyers keep changing their arguments as each one is exposed as constitutionally suspect.”

The Lone Star Jobs Surge

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal says the Texas model added 37% of all net U.S. jobs since the recovery began.”

Comparing 2011 with 1937

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“In today’s article in Bloomberg View I explore reasons for the current weak recovery, and in particular whether there is an analogy with what happened in the recession of 1937-38 which interrupted the recovery from the Great Depression.”

A Short History of Political Suicide

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, John Steele Gordon writes that Anthony Weiner’s Twitter disaster may well cost him his seat in Congress, but Washington has seen many other sordid meltdowns.”

More Calls for a Drug War Cease-Fire

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Americas columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady notes that an increasing increasing number of world leaders believe that laws against drug consumption do more harm than good.”

Dr. Kevorkian’s Victims

nytimes.com

Ross Douthat’s article on the so-called “right to die” quite clearly identifies the moral and ethical slippery slope that this concept entails…

Feds to Biotech Firms: Shut Up

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Scott Gottlieb writes that medicine will suffer if Washington controls the flow of scientific information.”

The Real Cost of the Auto Bailouts

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, University of Pennsylvania law professor and bankruptcy expert David Skeel says that the government’s unnecessary disruption of the bankruptcy laws in the reorganization of GM and Chrysler will do long-term damage to the economy.”

The Age of Obama

theblaze.com

“Recessions come and go. Typically we emerge with strong sustained growth. Not this time. Today we learned that employers added the fewest jobs in 8 months. Unemployment jumped back to 9.1 percent – and really, the level is 15.8 percent.”

What Paul Ryan’s Critics Don’t Know About Health Economics

professional.wsj.com

“Stanford University’s Alain Enthoven writes in The Wall Street Journal that a premium-support system would create the right incentives for cost cutting without putting undue burdens on seniors.”

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

Faith and the markets

www.economist.com

Some interesting (and clever) analogies between faith and finance from The Economist…

In Praise of Debt Limit ‘Chicken’

professional.wsj.com

Stanford University economist John Taylor notes that yesterday’s debt limit statement (calling for tying any increase in the debt limit to spending reform) is all about solving the so-called “time inconsistency” problem (cf. http://bit.ly/aonbTv). The “trick” is to ensure that policies implemented today can be credibly expected to result later in a more stable and financially sustainable fiscal environment.

Why You Still Shouldn’t Worry About Cellphones And Cancer

forbes.com

“The news that an arm of the World Health Organization said cellphones might cause cancer seems to have caused a World Wide Web freakout. But what kind of risks are we talking about? The reality is calming.”

Afghanistan, May 2011

boston.com

Amazing photo essay from the Boston Globe’s “Big Picture” website…

The Death of the American Dream I

blogs.the-american-interest.com

“The news from the housing market this week is bad.  Really bad.  House prices today are lower in most of the country than they were in the dismal month of April 2009; we are now in the second dip of the double dip housing downturn.”

Obama’s Cloud Economy

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Wonder Land column, Daniel Henninger writes that the economy is flying without instruments because of the White House’s policy choices.”

Future Oil Supplies Can Lower Prices Today

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Lucian Pugliaresi of the Energy Policy Research Foundation writes that, as the 1970s oil shocks taught us, prices are heavily influenced by expectations.

The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse

www.businessweek.com

“Delivery of first-class mail is falling at a staggering rate. Facing insolvency, can the USPS reinvent itself like European services have—or will it implode?”

66% Worry Government Will Run Out of Money

www.rasmussenreports.com

Quoting from this article: “”Sixty-two percent (62%) of Adults think most politicians want the government to have more power and money than it does today, while 18% think politicians want less power and money… By comparison, just 18% feel that most Americans want the government to have more power and money than it does today. A strong majority (64%) feel Americans want the government to have less power and money.”

A Look at Case-Shiller, by Metro Area (May Update)

blogs.wsj.com

“S&P/Case-Shiller home-price data indicated a clear double-dip for housing, as a tax-credit-induced bump last year was erased and national prices fell back to mid-2002 levels.”

Boehner Cites Support of Economists in Debt Limit Fight

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com

For what it’s worth, I (along with 149 of my closest economist friends) signed the statement referenced in this article. I worry that runaway spending and indebtedness may continue relatively unabated even if this gets legislatively implemented. David Malpass’s ideas (about linking debt/spending to GDP; see http://on.wsj.com/kMMCCX) may provide a more credible long-run strategy for preventing financial Armageddon…

The U.N. Can’t Deliver a Palestinian State

online.wsj.com

“Fouad Ajami writes in The Wall Street Journal that the 1947 U.N. General Assembly vote that created Israel was the culmination of decades of hard work on the ground.”

House Prices Have Now Fallen Farther Than They Did In The Great Depression

businessinsider.com

“This report is the most widely-followed home price index, equally quoted in bank boardrooms, Treasury Department back rooms, and Congressional Committees.”

11 Things You Should Know About The U.S. Postal Service Before It Goes Bankrupt

businessinsider.com

“Facing a projected $6.4 billion loss this year, the Postal Service is expected to hit its own debt ceiling by the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30.”

Sociology and Other ‘Meathead’ Majors

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Harvard’s Harvey Mansfield writes that Archie Bunker was right to be skeptical of his son-in-law’s opinions.”

It’s Not About You

www.nytimes.com

“America needs to adjust its message to college graduates.”

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

Wolfram Alpha Turns 2: ‘People Just Need What We Are Doing’

wired.com

“Steven Wolfram, the man behind computing-application Mathematica and the search engine Wolfram Alpha, has a short attention span that’s married to a long-term outlook.” I am a big fan of Wolfram Alpha – I use it regularly in my teaching and research, particularly for its symbolic math capabilities!

Texas and the Lesser 49

jaypgreene.com

“Yes it has been an unusual decade with lots of private sector job destruction, and you could come up with a few other caveats, but this is looking like the 1970s all over again: the rest of the country is in the tank while Texas booms.”

Not So Cool Rules

professional.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that the regulatory tax on Americans is now larger than the income tax.”

What’s Stopping Job Creation at Medium-Sized Firms? It’s Washington’s “Climate of Uncertainty”

mjperry.blogspot.com

“Consider that the main point… is not about uncertainty. It is about the hubris of academics and organizers ‘governing’ society who have never actually run anything.”

SCOTUS Makes It Official: California A Failed State

blogs.the-american-interest.com

“The controversial US Supreme Court decision that could ultimately force California to release tens of thousands of prison inmates is more than a shockingly broad exercise of judicial power.  It is also an official declaration by the highest constitutional authority in the land that California meets the strict test of state failure: it can no longer enforce the law within its frontiers.”

The Gates Farewell Warning

professional.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal argues America can be a superpower or a welfare state, but not both.”

David Mamet’s Coming Out Party

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Weekend Interview, Bari Weiss interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet. The newly minted conservative shares his views on liberalism, higher education, diversity, theater, the Toyota Prius, NPR and more.”

Mark Helprin: Memorial Day Beyond Stone and Steel

professional.wsj.com

“Mark Helprin writes in The Wall Street Journal that the best tribute to those who have died in the service of their country is probity and preparation, shared sacrifice, continuing resolve, and clarity in regard to how, where and when to go to war.”

When Kennedy Blinked

online.wsj.com

“Charles McCarry reviews Frederick Kempe’s Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, And The Most Dangerous Place on Earth.”

Friday Fun: Net Neutrality

townhall.com

Stephen Crowder provides an entertaining yet insightful analysis concerning “net neutrality”, linking it (by analogy) to the classic tragedy of the commons problem!

The Numbers Game: Is College Worth The Cost?

www.freakonomics.com

“According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of Americans say “the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend.””

The running out of resources myth

opinion.financialpost.com

“The premise behind the question “Are we running out of natural resources?” is terribly mistaken. There is indeed a finite quantity of fossil fuels and other resources in the Earth’s crust. But that does not mean that we will ever run out…”

Google Correlate: Linking the Fed to Nausea Remedies

blogs.wsj.com

Harvard Business Review editor Justin Lahart provides a classic example (using Google Correlate) of how meaningless correlation can be…

Mediscare—The Surprising Truth

professional.wsj.com

“Thomas R. Saving and John C. Goodman write in The Wall Street Journal that Republicans are being portrayed as Medicare Grinches, but ObamaCare already has seniors’ health care slated for draconian cuts.”

Noonan: Word of the Decade: ‘Unsustainable’

wsj.com

“The American establishment has finally come around, in unison, to admitting that America is in crisis, that our debt actually threatens our ability to endure, that if we don’t make progress on this, we are going to near our endpoint as a nation.”

So You Have a College Diploma

iowahawk.typepad.com

A bit over the top perhaps, but nevertheless a good comedic contribution to the ongoing debate about the so-called higher education “bubble”.

The Problems with Precaution: A Principle without Principle — The American Magazine

www.american.com

“‘Better safe than sorry’ isn’t always safer. In fact, when it comes to policies to protect public health and the environment, this type of thinking could harm us.”

Henninger: The Building Blocks of a GOP Agenda

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Wonder Land column, Daniel Henninger writes that leading governors and members of Congress know them: entitlement reform, fiscal restoration and lightly taxed long-term economic growth.”

Professors to Koch Brothers: Take Your Green Back

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Donald Luskin writes about the controversy over a $1.5 million gift given to Florida State University by David and Charles Koch.”

Shelby Steele: Obama’s Unspoken Re-Election Edge

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Shelby Steele writes that the Obama presidency flatters America to a degree that no white Republican can hope to match.”

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

On path to riches, no sign of fluffy majors

www.washingtonpost.com

“Over a lifetime, the earnings of workers who have majored in engineering, computer science or business are as much as 50 percent higher than the earnings of those who major in the humanities, the arts, education and psychology.”

Aaron Koblin: Artfully visualizing our humanity

www.ted.com

“TED Talks Artist Aaron Koblin takes vast amounts of data — and at times vast numbers of people — and weaves them into stunning visualizations.”

Ronald McKinnon: The Return of Stagflation

online.wsj.com

“Stanford economist Ronald McKinnon writes in The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. economy enters the summer of 2011 facing an ugly combination of inflation and high unemployment. Blame the Federal Reserve and its near zero interest-rate policy.”

Religious Alternatives to the Public Sector — The American Magazine

www.american.com

“As fiscal pressures mean the public sector must contract, organized religious groups are stepping into the void.”

Obama’s Regulators Are Now Punishing Thought Crime

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“The law allows companies to shift production for economic reasons, but not to retaliate for past strikes or other worker actions. For us, it’s a motive analysis.”

Federal Reserve Posters (1920′s)

ritholtz.com

“These cool posters below come from the San Francisco Fed archive, courtesy of NY Fed’s blog Liberty Street Economics.”

Stephens: An Anti-Israel President

online.wsj.com

“The president’s peace proposal is a formula for war.”

Analysis finds small number of UT faculty teach most students

statesman.com

“Twenty percent of University of Texas at Austin professors instruct most of the school’s students, while the least-productive fifth of the faculty carry only 2 percent of the university’s teaching load…”

The Economic Part of Our Brains

freakonomics.com

“Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have conclusively identified a part of the brain that’s necessary for making everyday decisions about value. Previous magnetic imaging studies suggested that the ventromedial frontal… cortex, or VMF, plays an evaluative role during decision-making.”

On Green Energy

american.com

“I recently studied the question of whether or not the whole “green energy leads to green jobs” paradigm has any merit to it, by studying how things have worked out in Europe, where it has been tested extensively. In this article, I focus on Spain (I’ve previously covered Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom).”

The Debt Limit Smackdown: Chicken Versus Rope-a-Dope

realclearmarkets.com

“If you were heading into a complex and lengthy negotiation would you put your key lieutenants on national television to declare how totally screwed you would be if the other side didn’t give you exactly what you wanted right now with no strings attached?”

The Lost Decade for the S&P 500

dshort.com

“Here is a new update of a chart that illustrates the total return performance of the S&P 500 since the Tech Bubble closing high on March 24, 2000. The chart shows the value of $1000 invested in the index, including dividends, but excluding any taxes or fees, as of May 20th. I’ve also included the real value using the Consumer Price Index for the inflation adjustment.”

High Taxes and Slow Growth Strangle California

realclearmarkets.com

“In 1967, five years after California became the most populous state, novelist Wallace Stegner said that California – energetic, innovative, hedonistic – was America, “only more so.” Today, this state’s budget crisis is like the nation’s, only more so. Bob Dutton is an island of calm in the eye of the storm – which should agitate Gov. Jerry Brown.”

The End of the Book? — The American Magazine

american.com

“Amazon, by far the largest bookseller in the country, reported on May 19 that it is now selling more books in its electronic Kindle format than in the old paper-and-ink format. That is remarkable, considering that the Kindle has only been around for four years. E-books now account for 14 percent of all book sales in this country and are increasing far faster than overall book sales. E-book sales are up 146 percent over last year, while hardback sales increased 6 percent …”

Alligators, Moats, and Other Such Nonsense

www.advancingafreesociety.org

“President Obama gave what was billed as an important speech on immigration last week near the border in El Paso, Texas. Unfortunately, it was one of the most demagogic moments in recent presidential history. Nearly everything Obama said was either factually incorrect or deliberately misleading.”

It’s the End of the World As We Know It. Wait. No It Isn’t.

forbes.com

“We’re still here.”

Much Ado About Nothing

shadow.foreignpolicy.com

“The president laid claim to “a new chapter in American diplomacy,” which he described as “shifting our foreign policy after a decade of war.” But the vision he now endorses for the universality of American values has actually been the basis for our foreign policy in the Middle East for several administrations…”

NOVA | Wright Brothers’ Flying Machine

www.pbs.org

This program chronicles how a team of aviation experts replicated various accomplishments of Orville and Wilbur Wright, ranging from constructing a copy of their original glider to building a replica of their propeller-driven 1911 Model B. I was surprised to learn that the Wright brothers initially “monetized” their invention by charging admission to air shows staged by their company!

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

THE END OF DAYS

If I had taken the time to write my own essay about the 89-year-old religious-broadcaster Harold Camping’s calculation of a May 21 “Rapture”, it would have closely mirrored the essay provided by Mr. Wheeler (cf. http://ldwheeler.livejournal.com/222070.html). Hat tip to my colleague Jim Hilliard for pointing this out…

The 1967 Line of Fire

“Obama creates a needless furor over Israel’s borders.”

Democratic Governors (Heart) Taxes

“The trend is unmistakable. Taxes are rising in blue states and falling in the red states this year, contributing to a widening disparity in tax burdens across the country.”

Dore Gold: Israel’s 1967 Borders Aren’t Defensible

“Fair observers have never considered the old armistice line as a non-negotiable starting point for peace talks.”

Linking the Debt Limit Hike To Spending Cuts Is Good Economics

“For months now top economic officials in Washington have been arguing that the Congress should vote to increase the debt limit without any reductions in the growth of spending—in other words a “clean debt limit hike… But these arguments do not take account of important economic advantages of linking the debt limit to spending reductions. Such a link is good economics in theory and in practice. It is essential to a credible return to sound fiscal policy and an end to the ongoing debt explosion.”

Your Results May Vary

“Search engines, social-working sites and online retailers are constantly tailoring information to reflect our interests. It’s a welcome kind of streamlining for some, but Eli Pariser, in “The Filter Bubble,” worries about the implications for democracy of customized information. Paul Boutin reviews.”

A Bachelor’s Degree in Atheism

“California’s Pitzer College decides to investigate the phenomenon of unbelief.”

Krauthammer: Obama speech shows he ‘has sympathies everywhere except Israel’

“On Thursday, President Barack Obama gave a speech at the State Department in Washington, D.C. which was supposed to offer an indication of what American policy would be in the Middle East as the region was going through great transition. However, coming out of the speech many are questioning the president’s suggestion that Israel should withdrawal to pre-1967 boundaries.”

Heresy of life insurance

Hat tip to my brother, John Garven, for showcasing this article on his blog (http://johngarven.com/)…

Partisan Grading: Democratic Professors Are More Likely to Redistribute Grades Than Republicans

“From a very interesting forthcoming paper in the American Economic Journal titled “Partisan Grading” by economists Talia Bar (Cornell) and Asaf Zussman (Hebrew University)…”

Are Oil Futures Markets Being Manipulated?

“Obama’s newly formed Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is an exercise in futility.”

Stimulus Killed 1 Million Jobs

“An extensive new study conducted by Timothy Conley from the University of Western Ontario, Canada Economics Department and Bill Dupor of Ohio State University Economics Department, shows the trillion dollar … stimulus bill, which President Obama has credited over and over again for “saving and/or creating” thousands of jobs, actually killed 1 million private sector jobs.”

Stephen Colbert’s Free Speech Problem

“The comedian runs up against campaign-finance law in an attempt to lampoon the Supreme Court.”

Meredith Whitney: The Hidden State Financial Crisis

Meredith Whitney’s “…latest research into opaque state financial statements suggests taxpayers will be surprised by how much pensions are underfunded.”

Somali Pirates’ Rich Returns

Piracy is “… a manageable risk, just one line in a complex matrix of calculations that shipping companies must make every day,” and “… 18 vessels have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden this year, 45 vessels have been boarded, and another 45 ships have been fired on. That’s a significant number, but it’s still less than 1 percent of the total shipping traffic. That means piracy remains a decent insurance bet.”

Governments Are The Primary Creators Of Systemic Risk

“The greatest lesson of the still young 21st century is proving to be that governments are the primary source of systemic risk to the economy, our standard of living, and our liberty.”

Some Of Us Aren’t Grossed Out By Profits

“Some of us, believe it or not, aren’t completely grossed out by the notion of profit — even a lot of profit. Strong earnings are good news not only for those dastardly Oil Barons, but for the millions of people who depend on the industry for their employment, as well as the vast number of Americans who rely on investments in oil to bolster their pension funds, retirement funds, college funds, etc.”

Sit Down, Mitt, You’re Not Helping

“Mitt Romney’s reversals on abortion, gay marriage, gun control, campaign finance and immigration leave one with the impression that when Mitt Romney is with you, he’s with you. At least until he leaves the room.”

The Coming Postal Bailout

“The Wall Street Journal on Congress’s bid for taxpayers to save mail worker pensions.”