Newmark's Door

"What are some actual examples of the law of unintended consequences in action?"

A useful collection.

Going, going . . .

. . . and maybe very soon to be gone. You probably saw this in last Friday's WSJ: "No Need to Panic About Global Warming". But you may not have seen Burt Rutan's follow-up.

Or, even more important, this from the Daily Mail: "Forget global warming - it's Cycle 25 we need to worry about (and if NASA scientists are right the Thames will be freezing over again)". (Link via Instapundit.)

Dr Nicola Scafetta, of Duke University in North Carolina, is the author of several papers that argue the Met Office climate models show there should have been ‘steady warming from 2000 until now’.

‘If temperatures continue to stay flat or start to cool again, the divergence between the models and recorded data will eventually become so great that the whole scientific community will question the current theories,’ he said.

As a public service the Door will accept nominations for the Next Terrible, Awful Crisis We Must Spend Lotsa Money On should AGW fizzle.

"The Gotcha Test for Aspiring Deans"

Funny. And yes, being a university administrator largely stinks. That's one good reason why there should be fewer of them.

Link via John Whitehead at Environmental Economics. 

"It’s Working in Walker’s Wisconsin"

Argument that Governor Walker's attempt to rein in public-sector unions in Wisconsin is--OMG!--saving money.

And compare and contrast: Wisconsin and Buffalo. 

How much evidence does anybody need?

"On Jim Harbaugh's Press Conference"

Sounds like a guy worth rooting for. I'm favorably disposed toward anyone who quotes The Old Man and the Sea.

"School kids catch a break"

Kinda. According to a new study by the nonprofit research group MDRC: "When the city [New York City] shutters large, bad schools and puts kids in smaller, specialized ones, graduation and college-readiness rates climb, and much of the racial-achievement gap vanishes."

The catch? 

With this success so evident, you’d expect to see the teachers unions lining up to support the model. Not exactly.

Instead, the unions file suit every time the Department of Education tries to close or restructure a failing school.

What unions? You know, the "we're all about the kids" unions.

More evidence for Newmark's Second-Best Solution for Improving K-12 Schools: smaller classes, smaller schools, smaller school districts.

(Wait: isn't this MDRC a rabid, right-wing nut organization? No, not even close. It is affiliated with the Ford Foundation. The Board of Directors is chaired by Robert Solow. Among the other members of the board are John Reed, former chair of Citigroup, and noted scholars Lawrence Katz, Richard Murnane, and Cecilia Rouse. The study is here.)

"Coffee and the Age of Reason"

2.5 minute video by economist Simon [Steven--thanks, Alex] Johnson on how the switch from booze to caffeine helped revolutionize the world.

Two on careers

"Six Quick-Start Careers: See how you could get into a hot career with just 1-2 years of education."

"What's the Hottest Career Field? Health Care."

Most popular dog names

The Twihards are everywhere: Bella is #2 for females.

"Listen To 10 Seconds Of Every Hit Song Of The ’70s"

If you lived through the 70s, this is pretty cool.

"Inequality and Skills"

Agree or disagree: "One of the leading reasons for rising U.S. income inequality over the past three decades is that technological change has affected workers with some skill sets differently than others."

According to a panel of the cream of the U.S. economics profession--Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley--81% either "Agree" or "Strongly Agree".

Two on fumbles

"Forcing fumbles an art, not luck".

"Did Giants Strategically Concuss Kyle Williams?" (Two years in the NFL and he's already had four concussions?)

"Worldwide Feast: 55 Great Global Food Blogs"

Sigh. So much good food, so little time.

"Pizza Topping Markup Calculator"

From Centives, an interesting blog written by Lehigh University undergraduates.

See also the Monopoly Property Value Calculator.

Cancer vaccine?

If it wasn't for all the false hopes before, this would be exciting.

"In Which Paul Krugman Leaves Me At a Loss for Words"

Just in case you're still reading Krugman's Times column or blog, take a look at Steve Landsburg's calm deconstruction of yet another Krugman blunder. 

Nobel, Schnoebel--I don't waste my time anymore.

Harley Earl and the car that would have "forever changed automotive history"

The F-88. I dunno, it looks garish to me.

"Wealth creation"

James Hamilton has a few pointed comments about Keystone XL.

For 150 years, Americans understood perfectly well that pipelines are the rational way to transport oil. We've reached a new and very troubling paralysis if we can't even agree on such an obvious fact at this point.

In addition to the question of how to make the best use of productive resources, another issue that has been raised in the debate is whether projects like the Keystone Expansion Project might also be helpful in terms of putting unemployed Americans back to work. Certainly laying more than a thousand miles of new pipe ought to cover a few paychecks. Critics say that these would only be temporary jobs, lasting only as long as it takes to build the pipeline. That's a valid point. But many of those same critics seem to think that America would be well served by other government-funded, temporary stimulus spending, as a good plan for getting people to work.

 

Two smackdowns of higher education

"12 Inconvenient Truths About American Higher Education".

Inconvenient Truth #5 Undergraduate Students Are Often Neglected

At schools with lots of graduate students and/or research grants, often the faculty emphasis is not on undergraduate instruction. Big classes taught by inexperienced or marginally qualified individuals are often common, and faculty reward systems strongly favor research over teaching, as often do state appropriations in some settings.

"A Good Fit".

To help you determine if you’re a good faculty fit for a small, formerly-known-as-liberal-arts college, consider the following:

. . . 

Do you understand that you will spend more time on service commitments than on prepping for your classes?

Are you willing to serve on multiple committees whose meeting times will add up to as many as eight hours per work -- the equivalent of a full business day?

Are you willing to serve on multiple committees after repeated evidence that there is no such thing as faculty governance?

"Why Does Our Universe Have [Only] Three Dimensions?"

String theory says there should be (maybe) nine. 

And why is the universe like a bedsheet that has shrunk in the wash?

I say again: modern physics is weird.

I didn't even know it was sick

"Postmodernism is dead".

I don't think so, but if it is, I'll send a big bouquet of flowers.

 

"Top 5 problem-solving mistakes by MBA's"

By Vanderbilt's Luke Froeb.

Luckily, I teach at NCSU, where such problems are all but unknown.

:-)

Two optimistic views of the U.S. economy

Joel Kotkin: "This Is America's Moment, If Washington Doesn't Blow It". A very big if, of course. But resources, manufacturing, the information economy, and demographics could all be quite favorable.

Brian Stoffel, summarizing a recent report from the Boston Consulting Group: "Here's Why American Manufacturing Will Make a Comeback".

"Amanda Hocking, the writer who made millions by self-publishing online"

After nine of years of working like crazy, Ms. Hocking became an "overnight sensation".

A custom-made Bugatti parked on Rodeo Drive

It's a "landmark". And it sure is pretty.

One reason I no longer necessarily accept an obit notice as an excuse for missing a test

"Pa. Man Fakes Mom's Obit to Get Time Off".

"I Don't Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore"

Harvard Business Review blogger Dan Pallotta:

I'd say that in about half of my business conversations, I have almost no idea what other people are saying to me. The language of internet business models has made the problem even worse. When I was younger, if I didn't understand what people were saying, I thought I was stupid. Now I realize that if it's to people's benefit that I understand them but I don't, then they're the ones who are stupid.

Read the whole thing.