. . . as quoted today by George Will:
Liberals oppose a VAT because it is regressive and conservatives oppose it because it is a money machine, but a VAT might come when liberals realize it is a money machine and conservatives realize it is regressive.
I think I understand Mississippi's ranking and Utah's ranking. But what's up with Montana?
. . . oil could soon fall to $20/barrel. Also interesting is his explanation of why it's been trading recently around $60 to $70/barrel: ". . . there are two answers and they both go to kind of the effects of government intervention."
Karl at Hot Air has a concise review of the debate of the last couple of days.
Both Tyler and Alex at Marginal Revolution added useful comments.
Steve Verdon notes that Krugman's own source seems to undercut his argument.
Finally, Scribbler at Scrivener.net asks a very pertinent question: "What will a Congress that couldn't run a cafeteria do with Nationalized Health Care?" (Marginal Revolution also noted the cafeteria story.)
When Farrah Fawcett passed away, a couple of stories noted that Ayn Rand was a big fan of Charlie's Angels. I'm far from an expert on Ms. Rand's views, but I was surprised by that. One of the stories linked to a piece, "The Dialectical Meaning of 'Charlie's Angels'" that was supposed to explain it.
Money 'graph:
Still, while the Romantic factor cannot be overlooked, there were certain methodological and cultural forces at work in addition that surely affected Rand on a tacit level, and which inexorably led her to champion this show. These subconsciously-absorbed forces help to explain why Rand had such a deep affinity for the Angels. That affinity was due, fundamentally, to the show's deeply feminist, sado-masochistic, and dialectical subtexts, as most profoundly evidenced in the full-bodied triadic duality of the angelic bosoms.
I'm pretty sure this is not a goof or a satire.
Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee states that California spends about $45,000/year per prison inmate, more than twice the "average among the nation's 10 most populous states . . . is $27,237 per year per inmate".
Maybe there's a good reason for that--maybe Calilfornia's prisoners are more violent or sicker or something--but Mr. Walters argues the state should think about trying private management.
And Calilfornia is planning to build a high-speed rail line between San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Diego at a total cost "expected to top $45 billion".
Yesterday I linked to a piece by Robert A. Book that argues that the administrative cost advantage claimed for Medicare vanishes when the cost is computed properly.
Greg Mankiw then linked to the piece (giving me credit and a link--thanks, Greg!).
Then Paul Krugman linked to Mankiw and claimed that Book's argument was really wrong.
Book then replied--I think effectively--to Krugman's argument.
Then Columbia professor Andrew Gelman praised in part and criticized in part Book's piece.
Book replied to him, too. (Again, I think effectively.)
There are days when this blogging/real-time Internet thing is very cool.
Edited by Lloyd Cohen and Josh Wright. Includes chapters on three old-school UCLA professors: Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz, and Ben Klein. (As well as chapters on some lesser lights like Director, Stigler, Becker, Buchanan and Tullock, etc.)
I'm not sure the explanation is right, but I do agree with the author's recommendation:
Exactitude is impossible, but a simple acknowledgement of basic economics would be a giant leap forward. So this summer, let's all strive for accuracy when discussing box office feats.
