If TV Science Was More Like Real Science

(PhD Comics)

The Daily Dozen

1. The Great Repression? "Repression in economic matters may not always lead to doom. But the scale of unconscious denial of the past five years amounts to a Great Repression. That is the widespread and sustained, if unconscious, denial of economic reality on a scale sufficient so that eventual reckoning spells equally widespread and sustained financial devastation—of which we should now be collectively acutely conscious.... Trouble is, the temptation appears strong to continue to repress rather than confront."
   
2. A new type of catalyst. The first mechanically activated catalyst might be used in self-healing materials.
3. 12 US towns on the edge of spectacular wilderness. I've been to two so far -- Asheville, NC and Moab, UT. If the other ten are as beautiful as these two, I have some more exploring to do!
4. "We are now a Nation filled with overgrown adolescents getting used to whatever we desire."
5. Newspapers are dying. Are universities next?
6. 50 things every 18-year-old should know.
7. A Harvard course in visualizing information. Looks interesting.
8. The four pillars of sound policy: 1) fiscal restraint; 2) the rule of law; 3) free trade; and 4) privatization. "Today, those four policy pillars, once known as the Washington Consensus, are abandoned in the city that gave that consensus its name."
9. Legal Theory Lexicon: The Reasonable Person.
10. From bubble to depression? "We economists were wrong: Even when traders in an asset market know the value of the asset, bubbles form dependably. Bubbles can arise when some agents buy not on fundamental value, but on price trend or momentum. If momentum traders have more liquidity, they can sustain a bubble longer."
11. Finding balance between time and money: "If you had a magical credit card and you could buy back the days of your life, how far in debt would you go and not even care?” Words spoken by a man who lost his wife and child during childbirth.
    
12. Quote of the day: "The study of law is to the study of philosophy as Spanish is to Latin." -- Eugene Volokh

GO FORTH MY MINIONS!

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The Benefits of Failure

Pete Leeson:

When failing businesses are allowed to fail, producers learn how to combine resources in ways that create wealth.

We take it for granted that producers know what we want. But this information doesn't appear magically. It has to be produced. The profit-and-loss system produces this information - but only when government lets failing businesses fail.

Profits and losses do for producers what traffic signals do for drivers. They tell them when to “go,” “slow down” and “stop” their productive activities. By communicating which resource combinations consumers value most and which they don't, profits and losses direct “economic traffic,” informing producers how to produce.

If government prevents ineffective producers from failing, the red light on the “economic traffic signal” stops working. Production continues and resources flow when they should halt, destroying wealth instead of creating it.

(HT Don Boudreaux)

Dueling Banjos - Bollywood Style

(HT haha.nu)

The Daily Dozen

1. China's one-child policy not only creates a shortage of women of marriageable age, it also creates a shortage of sons for parents. This has created a huge black market for abducted sons. One of the saddest articles I've read in a long time.
2. Judicial Corruption: Two judges in PA sentenced several thousand kids in PA to local detention in exchange for $2.6 million. Terrible.
   
3. The five best image editing tools. Interestingly, three of the five are free.
   
4. Dance your way to old age. "[R]esearch, by Dr Jonathan Skinner from Queen’s University Belfast, reveals the social, mental and physical benefits of social dancing for older people. It suggests that dancing staves of illness, and even counteracts decline in aging."
5. A great travel t-shirt? I've had a fair number of ExOfficio shirts over the years and would heartily recommend them.
   
6. The national average home size is decreasing.
   
7. Cowen on Bailouts: "Tyler says, rightly, that creditors aren't suffering enough." Agreed. More here.
   
8. Late law school grades (> 100 days after exam). One of my profs was incredibly late in getting grades back after my first semester of law school. This is particularly bad because it: 1) delays finding out your class rank; 2) impairs the ability of students to apply for summer positions; and 3) delays a meaningful signal for students who might be better off opting out of law school. This is just wrong on so many fronts. With the incessant work law students are expected to do, is it too much to expect a professor to return grades in a timely manner? At a minimum, professors should pay an increasing financial penalty for every day they are late in returning exams. I guarantee this would fix 95% of these kinds of delays.
   
9. 96% of netbooks use Windows. Yes, but what percent runs Vista?
   
10. Top 10 home office hacks.
    
11. Do men have biological clocks too? Not exactly, but the age of the father may influence intelligence and rates of autism of their offspring.
12. The government's the place to be in a downturn.
    

Diz jus rong

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On My Way to ASREC

I'm on my way to the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC) conference in Crystal City. Below is a schedule of our sessions. See a more detailed schedule here. [PDF]

Read all of my posts on the Economics of Religion and learn more about it here.

ASREC 2009 Schedule

FRIDAY, APRIL 3

Friday 8:30 – 10:00 am
Religious Capital
The Economic Impact of Islamic Teachings
Religion and Culture
Churches and Firms: Incentives and Organization

Friday 10:15 – 11:45 am
Weber Revisited: Religion and Capitalism
Islamic Diversity: Gender, Identity, and Economics
Beyond the Religious Mainstream
Book Session: The Economics of American Judaism

Friday 1:15 – 2:45 pm
The Impact of Religion on Income and Earnings
Religion and Social Stability
Health and Education
Ethics and Markets

Friday 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Thriving in Adversity: Communities of Faith
Islam and Collective Action
Membership Trends / Church Growth
Modeling the Religious Markets

Friday 4:45 – 6:00 pm
Keynote Address: Deirdre McCloskey
“Toward a Seriously Religious Economics”

Friday 6:15 – 7:15 pm
Reception

Friday 9:00 – 11:00 pm
ASREC Evening Social

SATURDAY, APRIL 4

Saturday 8:30 – 10:00 am
Religion, Youth, and Well-being
Discrimination: From "Faiths" to Favoritism
TheARDA.com: Religious Data and Much, Much More
Mega-Churches, Para-Churches, Growing Churches

Saturday 10:15 – 11:45 am
International Perspectives on Religion and Schooling
Religion and Violence
Religion and the Family
Media Roundtable: Telling your Story to Journalists, Broadcasters & Bloggers

Saturday 1:15 – 2:45 pm
Faith and Philanthropy
Terrorism
Church and Sect
Teaching the Economics of Religion

Saturday 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Secularization
Church and State
Together At Last: The Mormons and the Amish
New Methods for Religious Research: Experiments & Cognitive Science

Saturday 4:45 – 6:00 pm
Keynote Address: Arthur Books
“Earthly Rewards to Faith, Hope & Charity”

Saturday 6:15 – 7:15 pm
Reception

Saturday 9:00 – 11:00 pm
ASREC Evening Social

SUNDAY, APRIL 5

Sunday 8:30 – 10:00 am
Causes and Consequences of Religious Liberty
Religion and Politics

Sunday 10:15 – 11:45 am
Faith-Based Commerce: The Economic Impact of Religious Institutions
Religion and Society

Why I Love to Travel, Teach, and Learn

(Indexed)

Santa Fe, Here I Come?

Looks like I may need to break out my cowboy hat. I just found out yesterday that I was accepted to Santa Fe Institute's Complex Systems Summer School this summer:

The Complex Systems Summer School offers an intensive four-week introduction to complex behavior in mathematical, physical, living, and social systems for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the sciences and social sciences. The school is for participants who want background and hands-on experience to help prepare them to do interdisciplinary research in areas related to complex systems.

The school consists of an intensive series of lectures, laboratories, and discussion sessions focusing on foundational ideas, tools, and current topics in complex systems research. These include nonlinear dynamics and pattern formation, scaling theory, information theory and computation theory, adaptation and evolution, network structure and dynamics, adaptive computation techniques, computer modeling tools, and specific applications of these core topics to various disciplines. In addition, participants will formulate and carry out team projects related to topics covered in the school.

I'm still waiting to hear if I get a teaching position for the summer but if all goes well, I will attend this program in June and then teach and work on my dissertation in July/August.

Department of Awful Statistics

Megan McArdle:

Every time you find yourself saying that there must be some causal relationship between two strongly correlated variables, you should go back and look at this graph:

The Daily Dozen

1. Texas bans Microsoft Vista from government use. I just reinstalled Vista on my Thinkpad and am stuck by how it is not much faster than my $265 netbook on most things and even slower on others. Maybe that's why netbooks are poised to reshape the PC industry.
   
2. Financial freedom -- it's more important than wealth.
   
3. With the downturn, it's time to rethink the legal profession.
4. Hands on with the Palm Pre. Looks like it will even be able to run Palm OS programs (with the right software). More reviews here and here.
   
5. If I lived in New Zealand, I'd be dead: "The American health-care system may be a crazy mess, but it is the prime mover in the global ecology of medical treatment, creating the world’s biggest market for new drugs and devices. Even as we argue about whether or how our health-care system should change, most Americans take for granted our access to the best available cancer treatments—including the one that arguably saved my life."
6. How growing up poor may affect your financial habits... in a good way.
7. How the G-20 players stack up.
8. 10 financial commandments for your 30s.
9. Use fitness "algorithms" to stay in shape without a rigid workout plan.
10. How Flickr can make you a better photographer.
11. 'Atlas Shrugged' -- the movie?
    
12. Still teaching at 96!

Dat little girl puppie

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Obama Depressed, Distant Since 'Battlestar Galactica' Series Finale

Obama told aides he feels "like a cylon without a Resurrection Ship."

The Onion:

WASHINGTON—According to sources in the White House, President Barack Obama has been uncharacteristically distant and withdrawn ever since last month's two-hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

"The president seems to be someplace else lately," said one high-level official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Yesterday we were all being briefed on the encroachment of Iranian drone planes into Iraq, when he just looked up from the table and blurted out, 'What am I supposed to watch on Fridays at 10 p.m. now? Numb3rs?'"

"I haven't seen him this upset since Admiral Adama realized that Earth was actually an uninhabitable wasteland," the official continued. "Or at least that's what he told me. I don't actually watch the show. It's not really my thing."

With This Debt, I Thee Wed

Yet another reason to avoid too much debt:

If there's a money matter more likely to cause conflict for couples -- maybe even divorce -- it's debt.

Being in love and in hock is no way to go through a marriage, because being in hock might just put the kibosh on the love, particularly in the early years. Debt, it turns out, is a leading cause of family strife during the first few years of marriage, according to Creighton University's Center for Marriage and Family.

That doesn't mean debt will necessarily send you to divorce court, but it does mean the accumulation of debt can undermine your marriage and cause the type of discord that can dissolve a marriage...

Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. You are in control of the credit card in your wallet. You're the one who says no to the car you can't afford. You're the one who decides it's wiser to leave the equity in your home instead of drawing it out for unnecessary indulgences.

The savviest couples recognize that debt should serve only one purpose: to help you and your spouse build a better life together -- not a better lifestyle.

What to Call Your Professor

I've gone through this struggle on more than one occasion:

(PhD Comics)

The Real Reason Obama Got Rid of Wagoner?

To protect the UAW from the ill effects of what might happen to them if GM goes bankrupt:

Mr. Obama played the tough guy in getting rid of Mr. Wagoner, but he won't go after the labor monopoly. In fact, the union will emerge with a stronger grip on Detroit -- because it will be a major shareholder in a reorganized GM.

All at the expense of the American taxpayer. During one of the most troubled economic times in recent history. When we can hardly afford it.

Sad.

(HT Dad)

The Daily Dozen

1. Can Pakistan be governed?
   
2. Kindle competitors to get wireless connectivity.
3. The ultra-simple guide for getting amazing things done. 1) Find Something Amazing to work on. 2) Hole yourself up and just work on the Something Amazing. 3) Take a nap.
4. The biggest waste of time. Often people say "yes" when they should say "no" or "no" when they should say "yes."
   
5. An iPod your majesty? Obama gives an iPod to the Queen of England. Tacky or not, at least it's better than the American DVDs he gave to Gordon Brown that wouldn't play on British DVD players.
   
6. Free healthcare! From Walgreens, not Obama.
   
7. How an airplane ride bricked someone's Kindle 2. Remind me to bring some back-up reading material the next time I fly.
8. One number to rule them all. Google Voice routes calls from multiple lines, transcribes voice mail, and gives you one number for life.
   
9. What can law schools do? "At some point, we are going to have to do something about law school tuition that is painfully out of whack with the reality of the post-graduate legal market... Law schools (obviously) aren't doing a great job helping their students find jobs, and they are most likely not going to reduce tuition any time soon." Why not make law a two-year program instead of three? I don't think the third year gives much value-added to the students -- just tuition-added to the schools.
   
10. Why tables are really much better than graphs. "Graphs are gimmicks, substituting fancy displays for careful analysis and rigorous reasoning. It's basically a tradeoff: the snazzier your display, the more you can get away with a crappy underlying analysis. Conversely, a good analysis doesn't need a fancy graph to sell itself. The best quantitative research has an underlying clarity and a substantive importance whose results are best presented in a sober, serious tabular display. And the best quantitative researchers trust their peers enough to present their estimates and standard errors directly, with no tricks, for all to see and evaluate."
11. An interesting survey of economics bloggers about the economy. [PDF]
    
12. Quote of the Day: "Government is good at one thing: It knows how to break your legs, hand you a crutch, and say, "See, if it weren't for the government, you wouldn't be able to walk." -- Harry Browne
    

On teh rode agin

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Sakura!

I had to study yesterday, so I figured why not do so beneath the cherry blossoms in DC?

See more photos here.

The Daily Dozen

1. The idiot's guide to Pakistan.
   
2. Car Dealer in Chief?
   
3. Record drop in index of home prices.
   
4. The benefit of turning your computer off might not be worth the cost?
   
5. Skype debuts on the iPhone.
6. The New Jersey AG forces eHarmony to roll out a gay matchmaking service.
7. Tyler Cowen explains systematic risk: "If your banks are less risky, often something else is more risky, and vice versa."
8. $35 buys you 25% less scrolling on a netbook. Sounds like money well spent to me!
9. Stretched nerve 'bridges' creates a scaffold for nerve tissue regeneration.
   
10. 5 tips to add years to your life.
    
11. Consolidation of power: “For quite a while, but especially over the last nine months, the best way to predict developments in politics and finance has been to ask: what will do the most to increase the concentration of power? Every headline, from the Geithner regulatory plan to the proposed cap on the charitable deduction, to the resignation of the General Motors CEO, should be viewed in that light.”
12. Quote of the Day: "When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -- R. Buckminster Fuller
    

invisibul chin scratchez

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