Amity Shlaes: How Government Unions Became So Powerful – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Amity Shlaes of the Council on Foreign Relations explains how the American workforce became divided between vulnerable private-sector workers and protected public-sector workers.”

Review & Outlook: Postcard From the NHS – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal on Dr. Berwick’s health-care model at work.”

Is Your University Complying With the New Textbook Law? – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“University students are returning to campuses throughout the country. It is a migration that raises my spirits – seeing the energetic, eager faces tackling another course in contracts or intellectual property. But this year something is different. For the first time, a federal law has taken effect which requires “institution[s] of higher education receiving Federal financial assistance” to provide students with information on textbook pricing.”

‘Clunkers,’ a classic government folly

www.boston.com

From the Department of Unintended Consequences: This article from the Boston Globe documents the effect of last fall’s “Cash for Clunkers” program on prices in the used car market today. Apparently used car prices are now higher because “…your Uncle Sam decided last year to destroy hundreds of thousands of perfectly good automobiles as part of its hare-brained Car Allowance Rebate System …or, as most of us called it, Cash for Clunkers. That was the program under which the government paid consumers up to $4,500 when they traded in an old car and bought a new one with better gas mileage. The traded-in cars – which had to be in drivable condition to qualify for the rebate – were then demolished: Dealers were required to chemically wreck each car’s engine, and send the car to be crushed or shredded…In short, Washington spent nearly $3 billion to raise the price of mobility for drivers on a budget.”

What Kinds of Tax Cuts are Best?

jeffreymiron.com

“With just two months until the November elections, the White House is seriously weighing a package of business tax breaks – potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars – to spur hiring and combat Republican charges that Democratic tax policies hurt small businesses, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.”

Interest rates and the US housing boom: A call for more research

www.voxeu.org

“The debate over the cause of the US housing boom and bust is far from concluded. This column questions the explanation that low interest rates were a critical factor, arguing that it sits uneasily alongside theories of household behaviour and historical evidence. With the causes remaining uncertain, the authors call for more research in this area.”

A Lifetime of Career Changes – The Numbers Guy – WSJ

blogs.wsj.com

“Though it’s often said that the average American will have seven careers in a lifetime, there is no statistical support for that figure.”

Elaine Chao: Another Unhappy Labor Day – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao writes that Americans are aware of the folly of Washington’s economic policies.”

Michael Boskin: Summer of Economic Discontent – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Stanford University’s Michael Boskin writes in The Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration’s ‘summer of recovery’ has fizzled in almost every way imaginable. The growth rate is less than half what it was at this stage after the 1974-75 and 1981-82 recessions.”

Joe Queenan: Goodbye to the Clichés of Summer – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, satirist Joe Queenan writes that somewhere among Julius Caesar, Edgar Degas, Lady Godiva and Lady Gaga, the word ‘legacy’ got hijacked.”

Where Columbia Beats Harvard: On the Battlefield of Curricula – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“James Piereson writes on The Wall Street Journal’s Taste page that away from the sports arena, Columbia beats Harvard on the battlefield of curricula. Excerpted from a longer version of his original article in the September issue of The New Criterion.”

Scott Brown: Want Middle East Peace? Deny Iran Nukes – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts writes that Israeli-Palestinian talks are good, but Tehran’s nuclear drive continues.”

The Small Business Tax Hike and the 97% Fallacy

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Kevin A. Hassett and Alan D. Viard of the American Enterprise Institute write that the president’s plan to raise top marginal rates is holding back the very people who should be leading the economic recovery.”

Charles Krauthammer – Our distracted commander in chief

www.washingtonpost.com

“Obama sees the war in Afghanistan as an unwanted interference with his true vocation.”

The Mosque’s Lesson on Loyalty

www.thepublicdiscourse.com

“Liberal charges of xenophobia reveal more about those making them than about those at whom they are aimed. This is not to say that those charges are merely cynical, that they are used only as weapons against the left’s political enemies. These charges, though misplaced, are sincerely made. And precisely because of their sincerity they shed light on contemporary liberalism, which is powerfully inclined to see xenophobia where it does not exist—or at least to regard as xenophobic thoughts and actions that most non-liberals regard as normal and just.”

The Generation That Can’t Move On Up: The Growing Gap Between Young Working-Clas

online.wsj.com

“Andrew Cherlin and W. Bradford Wilcox write on the Wall Street Journal Taste page about new statics and surveys that show a widening gap, both economic and social, between young people from working-class families, and the middle class.”

Bret Stephens: The Paula Abdul Theory of Foreign Policy – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Global View columnist Bret Stephens writes that self-esteem does not make for good policy (or singers).”

The Costs of War, Continued – NYTimes.com

economix.blogs.nytimes.com

“As the Afghanistan conflict drags on, the costs of expected veterans’ benefits become a smaller fraction of the total cost of the conflict, an economist writes.”

Incentives Work for Pigeons. Can They Motivate American College Students? — The Amer

www.american.com

“How to improve the academic atmosphere of contemporary high schools and colleges.”

How to Tell When a CEO Is Lying – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“In a nifty piece of forensic analysis, two researchers claim to have figured out how to tell when executives are lying. David Larcker and Anastasia Zakolyukina analyzed 30,000 conference calls between 2003 and 2007 to see if certain “tells” during the call were associated with earnings that were later “materially restated.”

www.nber.org

Here’s an interesting research paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research which provides a detailed assessment of the extent and nature of the federal subsidy given to state and local governments in the form “Build America Bonds” that were offered as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: “In 2009, BABs offered an average yield of 3.69 percent. The federal subsidy brought down the cost of borrowing for states and local governments to 2.32 percent.”

The Emerging Markets’ Century — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“Whereas public debt levels in many major industrialized countries will soon exceed 100 percent of GDP, those in the major emerging market economies generally range between 40 to 50 percent of GDP.”

Catholics and the Cosmos: Thinking About Souls and Human Origins, and What Pius XII Said About Evolution

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Houses of Worship column, John Farrell writes about the 60th anniversary of Pope Pius XII’s 1950 encyclical on Christianity and the theory of evolution and asks whether advances in science call for more discussion in the church.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Public Pensions and Our Fiscal Future – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger challenges the State Assembly in Sacramento to bring rising pension costs under control.”

The $31 Billion Revenue Fantasy – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that those who make $200,000 a year are 3% of all taxpayers but pay 52% of all income taxes.”

Spreading Hayek, Spurning Keynes – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Peter J. Boettke is emerging as the intellectual standard-bearer for a revival of the Austrian school of economics.”

We Just Don’t Understand – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Americans look at the president and see a stranger, writes Peggy Noonan.”

Fiscal policy: Is economics a right-wing conspiracy? | The Economist

www.economist.com

“I’LL admit it, I am ambivalent about whether we need more fiscal stimulus and still think it’s too early to tell how effective the last one was. I dare to voice my concerns and I get labelled “a conservative economist”. But my worries are based on my professional training—my fields were public finance and macro—more than any political agenda.”

An Updated Guide to the EconoTwitterverse – Real Time Economics – WSJ

blogs.wsj.com

” An updated and expanded list of econ-related tweeps, from journalists to economists.”

Peter Berkowitz: The Death of Conservatism Was Greatly Exaggerated – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Peter Berkowitz says that liberals completely misread the election of Obama as the death knell of conservatism. Instead, the president’s progressive agenda has led to a revival of conservatism.”

Charles Krauthammer – The last refuge of a liberal

www.washingtonpost.com

“The only hope for liberals is to play the race card.”

Obama’s Illegal Stem-Cell Policy « Public Discourse

www.thepublicdiscourse.com

“A year and a half ago, when President Obama signed his executive order funding embryo-destructive stem-cell research, I argued in The Weekly Standard that he was perpetuating a needless stem-cell war, that his decision was “bad ethics, bad science, and bad politics.” Add “bad law” to the list.”

Gone 20 years, Stevie Ray Vaughan stands forever tall in Austin

www.austin360.com

“The Austin music community woke up on Aug. 27, 1990 20 years ago today with a piece of its soul gone.”

Bam’s lousy economic record: Let’s just look at the facts, shall we?

www.nydailynews.com

“On the campaign trail, President Obama is talking about everything except his own economic record. He attacks his predecessor – a man for whom I worked – as his advisers promise a return to Clinton-era economics.”

Op-Ed Columnist – Islam and the Two Americas – NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

“Two Americas, one based on religious liberty and the other on cultural assimilation, are in tension again in the debate over a mosque near ground zero.”

Gordon Crovitz: The Railroad Precedent and the Web – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Information Age columnist Gordon Crovitz notes that in its quest to impose net neutrality on the Web, the FCC bids to become the ICC of the Internet.”

The End of American Optimism – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Mortimer Zuckerman says that with a historically weak recovery and high unemployment rate, we hear people beginning to question the long-held assumption that their children will have it better than they.”

The Fed Can’t Solve Our Economic Woes – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Gerald P. O’Driscoll says liquidity isn’t in short supply, but savings are. Tax cuts to encourage investment, not easy money to encourage consumption, is the correct policy.”

Book review: Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“James K. Glassman reviews Thomas Geoghegan’s Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life.”

Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe: A Tea Party Manifesto – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, former House majority leader Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks write that the tea party movement is not seeking a junior partnership with the Republican Party. It is aiming for a hostile takeover.”

Review & Outlook: The Next Pension Bailout – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal editorial board says there’s growing momentum in Congress to dump union retirement burdens on taxpayers.”

Why It’s Hard to Find U.S. Population by Religion – The Numbers Guy – WSJ

blogs.wsj.com

“The Census Bureau doesn’t ask about religion, unlike other countries’ censuses, opening the door to controversies about the number of Muslims and other U.S. religious groups.”

Robert Costa: Can Charlie Rangel Hold On? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Robert Costa of National Review writes that after 40 years in power, New York Rep. Charlie Rangel faces threats from the left (Adam Clayton Powell IV) and the right (Rev. Michel Faulkner).”

Peggy Noonan: We Pay Them to Be Rude to Us – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the service economy, all of us want to take the chute, Peggy Noonan writes in The Wall Street Journal.”

The Perils of Hipster Christianity and Why Young Evangelicals Reject Churches That Try To Be Cool -.

online.wsj.com

“Brett McCracken writes in The Wall Street Journal’s Houses of Worship column about the perils of Hipster Christianity, and why he and other young evangelicals are being driven away by churches that try to be cool.”

Economists Want Policy Makers to Back Off – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Economists are getting more pessimistic about the strength of the recovery, but they don’t think policy makers should do anything more to support it, according to the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.”

Charles Krauthammer – Sacrilege at Ground Zero

www.washingtonpost.com

“America is a free country where you can build whatever you want — but not anywhere.”

U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don’t Even Know It: Laurence Kotlikoff

www.bloomberg.com

Great read – hat tip to (my former student) Jason Gould: “Let’s get real. The U.S. is bankrupt. Neither spending more nor taxing less will help the country pay its bills.”

Timothy J. Muris: Antitrust in a High-Tech World – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Timothy J. Muris, writes in The Wall Street Journal Europe that innovation suffers when regulators penalize businesses for their success in the marketplace.”

Allan H. Meltzer: Europe Jumps Off the Keynesian Bus – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, economist Allan Meltzer notes that the economy is looking bright in Britain and Germany after those governments announced plans to reduce spending.”

Dan Henninger: Tolerance at Ground Zero – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Wonder Land columnist Dan Henninger writes that to reciprocate for the space his mosque is getting close to Ground Zero, Iman Rauf should defend Christian minorities in the Middle East.”

Unemployed Homeowners to Get $3 Billion in Aid – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Obama administration plans to add $2 billion to its Hardest Hit Fund and said HUD would launch a new $1 billion program to provide bridge loans to homeowners at risk for foreclosure. ”

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.: End of the Net Neut Fetish – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman Jenkins explains what the Google-Verizon deal really means for the wireless future…?  Historians, if any are interested, will conclude that the unraveling of the net neutrality movement began when the iPhone appeared, instigating a tsunami of demand for mobile Web access.”

U.S. Study Indicates Driver Error in Many Toyota Crashes – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

I can’t help but wonder what the implications of this study are for the civil litigation which is currently going on concerning “sudden acceleration incidents”, or SAI’s involving Toyota vehicles: “A government safety examination of Toyota vehicles involved in crashes attributed to sudden acceleration so far has not yielded evidence of flaws in Toyotas while pointing instead to driver error.”

Green Protectionism — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“European policy makers and environmental groups want to restrict imports—but not in order to save the planet.”

Fouad Ajami: The Obsolescence of Barack Obama – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Fouad Ajami writes that Barack Obama’s will not be known as a transformative presidency.”

Ezra Klein – Where does the Laffer curve bend?

voices.washingtonpost.com

Interesting assortment of opinions about the relationship between marginal tax rates, government revenue, and GDP growth from leading economists and various other “experts”…

The New-Car Mating Dance – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

Interesting “case study” by Freakonomics author Steven Levitt concerning the impact of the Internet on the market for new cars: “Our minivan is ten years old, so we went out to buy a new one this weekend. In Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics, we write a lot about how the Internet has changed markets in which there are information asymmetries. Buying a new car gave me the chance to see first-hand these forces at work…”

How Companies Track Corporate Reputation – The Numbers Guy – WSJ

blogs.wsj.com 

“How polling firms and other companies track corporate reputation, from monitoring social networks to surveying thousands of people daily.”

Medicare Actuary Questions Obamacare Savings | Foxnews.com

politics.blogs.foxnews.com

“The actuaries at Medicare are the nonpolitical guardians of government health care spending and are seen as stubbornly independent.And they are warning that the assumptions the administration is relying on to fund its health care policy may create enormous problems for Medicare — just as tens of millions of baby boomers start retiring.”

The World Drills On – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes on how the rest of the world continues to drill in deep water, ignoring the Obama moratorium.”

Thomas F. Siems: Government and the Uncertainty Trap – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com 

“In The Wall Street Journal, Thomas Siems of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank says that it is not a lack of liquidity that’s holding back our economy. Investors and business leaders are waiting to learn more about future taxes and regulations.”

Mr. Fairness – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com 

“In The Wall Street Journal, Kimberley Strassel interviews Ken Feinberg, the pay czar, BP claims administrator, and 9/11 victims fund manager.”

TaxVox: the Tax Policy Center blog :: In Defense of Congressman Paul Ryan

taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org

“Given that columnist Paul Krugman relied on Tax Policy Center estimates to level claims that Congressman Paul Ryan is a “flimflam man” and that Ryan’s plan to address our fiscal problems is a “fraud,” I think a defense of the Congressman is in order.”

When Labor Is Capital: The Limits of Keynesian Policy

www.american.com

“The economic mystery of 2010 is the persistence of high unemployment, in spite of stimulus that follows the prescription of the prevailing Keynesian orthodoxy. Here’s an alternative to that orthodoxy.”

Dana Mack: Now What for Marriage, After the Federal Ruling Against California’s Proposition 8 

online.wsj.com

“Dana Mack writes … about the implications of this week’s ruling by a federal judge that the same-sex marriage ban enshrined in California’s Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.” 

John Murray: The ‘C’ Should Stay in the YMCA 

online.wsj.com 

“John Murray writes … about the YMCA’s new branding strategy and name change, to the Y, and says neither effort will make the organization any more effective at service to the community than the original YMCA always was.”

Peggy Noonan: America Is at Risk of Boiling Over – WSJ.com 

online.wsj.com 

“And out-of-touch leaders don’t see the need to cool things off, Peggy Noonan writes in The Wall Street Journal.”

Charles Krauthammer – Annals of executive overreach

www.washingtonpost.com

“In a democracy, administrators administer the law; they don’t change it.”

Dipping and Deflating — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“A double-dip recession now appears all too probable, likely tipping the U.S. economy into deflation.”

SEC Says New FinReg Law Exempts It From Public Disclosure

www.foxbusiness.com

“Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.”

Court: University Can Expel Student Who Opposes Homosexuality

www.foxnews.com

“A federal judge ruled in favor of a public university who removed a Christian student over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong. The decision, according to Julea Ward’s attorneys, could result in Christian students across the country being expelled from public university for similar views.”

The United Mistakes of America – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

nytimes.com

“Kathryn Schulz, the author of Being Wrong, has been guest-blogging for us about being wrong – and admitting our mistakes. Her latest post examines the historical culture of error in the United States.”

Q&A: Are Treasury Bonds Risk-Free? – Fama/French Forum

www.dimensional.com

“EFF/KRF: TIPS aside, U.S. Treasury bonds and the government bonds of other countries are not now and never have been risk-free since they are subject to inflation risk. Given the current borrowing binges of governments, the temptation down the road to use inflation to kill the value of these nominal promises.”

Economic Scene – Study Rethinks Importance of Kindergarten Teachers – NYTimes.com

nytimes.com

“A new study found students with better teachers learned more in kindergarten — and earned more as young adults.”

Religion: Countercyclical church attendance | The Economist

www.economist.com

“Every day, the economist Daniel Hungerman looks at the graph that hangs above his desk at the University of Notre Dame. One jagged line goes down and up. This is America’s gross domestic product since 1972. Another jagged line goes up and down. This is the religiosity of Americans over the same period.”

Mike Huckabee on politics, Christianity, Israel : The New Yorker

www.newyorker.com

Interesting New Yorker article about former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee…

Will the U.S. Hand Chavez a License to Kill?

www.american.com

“Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s record of providing money, arms, political support, and, yes, safe haven to groups waging a murderous war against a sovereign state openly violates international law.”

The Government’s Role in the Housing Bubble – National – The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

“I never would have guessed that years in, we’d still be debating the role of the government in the housing bubble.”

New Blood for Social Security

www.american.com

“Should public-sector pensions shift their workers to Social Security?”

Are We Naturally Lazy?

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“We’re happier when busy, but inclined to laziness.”

Crisis Economics

nationalaffairs.com

This is the clearest “plain English” explanation that I have seen anywhere which explains the conditions under which fiscal policy instruments such as government spending and tax cuts may or may not have particularly “stimulative” effects on the economy. The author (Harvard Professor N. Gregory Mankiw) also provides some interesting anecdotes concerning the absurdity of the Obama Administration’s famous “jobs created or saved” metric (also see Three Million Imaginary Jobs II); e.g., how some employers have counted federal government stimulus money which was used to provide pay raises to existing employees as “creating” jobs, and the story about a shoe-store owner in Kentucky who sold boots to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (for work on a project made possible by stimulus funds) who claimed to have created nine jobs with $889 (“…after all, a soldier could not go to work… without a pair of boots”).

Stormy skies – The Big Picture – Boston.com

www.boston.com

Robert McDowell: The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Robert McDowell writes that the FCC’s move to treat broadband providers like phone company monopolies could spur international efforts to regulate the Web.”

Kim Strassel: Obama’s Other Chicago Problem – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Kim Strassel writes in The Wall Street Journal that the president’s support for Illinois senatorial hopeful Alexi Giannoulias is an unwanted reminder of the Windy City’s unsavory politics.”

Review & Outlook: Liberal Tax Revolt – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that even many Democrats don’t want the Bush cuts to expire.”

Charles Krauthammer – Beware the lame duck

www.washingtonpost.com

“To pass major legislation in a lame-duck session would be a violation of democratic norms.”

Kimberley A. Strassel: About That Financial Reform ‘Victory’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kim Strassel writes that Dodd-Frank may backfire on Democrats.”

Andy Kessler: The Yo-Yo Market and You – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Andy Kessler writes that the stock market will suffer dizzy spells until government policies return to some semblance of stability.”

Peggy Noonan: Youth Has Outlived Its Usefulness – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“American politics is desperately in need of adult supervision, argues Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal.”

Charles Krauthammer – Obama’s next act

www.washingtonpost.com

“I have a warning for Republicans: Don’t underestimate Barack Obama.”

Lasting Inequality – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“Income inequality throughout the 20th century…The evidence shows that, although there have been large absolute reductions in the level of infant and child mortality rates and also a reduction in the absolute levels of differences across socioeconomic groups, relative inequality has not diminished over the 20th century.”

Hillary Clinton for President – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

The secretary of state could mount a formidable challenge to Obama, writes Pete du Pont.”

Evangelicals Try Stand-Up by David Skeel – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In his Houses of Worship column, David Skeel writes about a new effort called Veritas Riff, which teaches evangelical leaders improvisation techniques to make them into more effective public intellectuals.”

Op-Ed Columnist – The Gospel of Mel Gibson – NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

“The taped tirade of the former Braveheart is evidence of our modern infatuation with ourselves.”

Three Million Imaginary Jobs – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that the White House and Christina Romer are still claiming that the stimulus worked despite the high unemployment.”

The White House’s claim that the $862 billion economic stimulus of February 2009 “created or saved” between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs can’t be taken seriously. While the “jobs created or saved” statistic is politically clever, it is based upon a “what would have happened” counterfactual scenario that, by definition, is neither measurable nor refutable.

Senate VIP Loans Mount – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“U.S. senators or Senate staff members received 30 loans—far more than had previously been known—under a controversial lending program at Countrywide Financial that provided cut-rate terms to favored borrowers.”

FT.com / Companies / Banks – Failures of the Dodd-Frank Act

www.ft.com

“Anachronistic in parts right from the day of its legislation …when read in its full glory, the 2,000 plus page script falls flat on at least three important counts, even ignoring its somewhat misplaced – likely populist – diversion into consumer protection issues. First, the Act does not sufficiently discourage individual firms from putting the system at risk…Second, the falls into the familiar trap of regulating by form rather than function…Third, implicit government guarantees for large parts of the shadow banking sector remain unaddressed.”

The Estate Tax’s Perverse Incentives – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“Will the estate tax return next year?”

Do High Incomes Make CEO’s Mean?

online.wsj.com

Possibly they do…

When Debt Flies Off the Charts

www.american.com

“Under one realistic future scenario, the nation’s debt becomes so large that Congressional Budget Office models break down.”

Gregg Sherrill: Speaking Up for American Capitalism – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Tenneco CEO Gregg Sherrill writes that business has taken a pounding on Capitol Hill and at the White House and has for the most part remained silent.”

For a New Generation, an Elusive American Dream – NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

“In the Nicholson family, America is not delivering for a grandson as it did for his father and grandfather.”

NHTSA: No, Toyotas do not Suddenly Accelerate Unless You Press the Accelerator

www.theatlantic.com

“At the apex of PJ O’Rourke’s description of the 1980s Sudden Acceleration Incident craze…”

‘Artificial Intelligence’ Gains Fans Among Investors – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“A new wave of investment firms are turning to artificial-intelligence programs to make trading decisions. The programs are designed to crunch numbers, learn from decisions, and adapt. Some are having success.”

Shadow Banking

www.ny.frb.org

Here’s some “light” reading for folks who are interested in having a better understanding of how financial intermediation works in the real world: “The rapid growth of the market-based financial system since the mid-1980s changed the nature of financial intermediation in the United States profoundly. Within the market-based financial system, shadow banks are particularly important institutions.”

James Woolsey and Rebeccah Heinrichs: Iran and the Missile Defense Imperative – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“R. James Woolsey and Rebeccah Heinrichs write in The Wall Street Journal that U.S. intelligence now sees Tehran developing intercontinental missiles by 2015. If we continue our current strategy, we will not be able to counter the threat.”

Jenkins: Bank CEOs and the Bewitching Carrot – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Holman Jenkins writes in The Wall Street Journal that shareholders of large, publicly traded banks have a higher appetite for risk than is compatible with our regulatory system.”

The Uncertainty Principle – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that Dodd-Frank will require at least 243 new federal rule-makings and lots of economic uncertainty for struggling businesses.”

Nation Demands Tax Dollars Only Be Wasted On Stuff That’s Awesome

www.theonion.com

Satire concerning “stimulus spending” from The Onion… “Nine of 10 respondents said they favor the continued public financing of new sports stadiums, but only if the old ones are imploded in an elaborate pyrotechnic display that everyone can watch from reclining chairs as AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” blasts in the background.”

Q&A: The Limits of Arbitrage – Fama/French Forum

www.dimensional.com

“The people in behavioral finance treat the Shleifer and Vishny (1997) paper as if it is empirical evidence. In fact, it is theory built on a set of assumptions – in the end, a clever set of claims. It can’t discredit market efficiency until it is supported by rigorous empirical work.”

The electoral consequences of large fiscal adjustments

www.voxeu.org

“The market turmoil in recent weeks pose a key question: can European governments credibly commit to cutting their deficits? This column presents evidence that fiscal adjustments do not increase the likelihood of electoral defeat for incumbent governments.”

Eating to Live or Living to Eat? http://on.wsj.com/aw8phL  

Mission Group Reels After Losses in Uganda http://on.wsj.com/clhkDG

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.”