Political Science
Next Entries »Favorite Lines of the Day
Sunday, September 7th, 2008From Will Wilkinson: That Palin reminded my of my school teachers is a matter of her acquired manner and the assumptions beneath them, a matter of her Upper-Midwest-sounding accent. I’m from a small town. She’s from a small town! And damn straight: people who study at the University of Idaho (which is, in fact, where […]
Are Payday Loans Repugnant?
Monday, February 18th, 2008I didn’t get my first credit card until I was 22 years old. Up until that point, I had no need for one. I had adequate savings and paid for most of my expenses with scholarship money and part-time jobs. However, when my savings dwindled I wanted some credit in case of emergency. It was […]
The Insufficiency of Efficiency
Friday, February 8th, 2008I recently came across the book No One Makes You Shop at Wal-Mart, by Tom Slee. I didn’t purchase it, but read the first chapter which is available for free at Slee’s website. Slee’s title is a bit misleading. He argues that while no one makes you shop at Wal-Mart, it is very possible that […]
Carbon Emissions Fall
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007From the December 3, Wall Street Journal opinion page: The Bush Administration announced last week that U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide fell by 1.8% from 2005 to 2006. Output of all greenhouse gases was down 1.5% last year. All this while the American economy grew by 2.9%. It’s the first time since 1990, when the […]
Chavez Constitution Fails
Monday, December 3rd, 2007Voters rejected the proposed amendments to the constitution 51 to 49 percent. The new constitution would have eliminated term limits, making it possible for Chavez to rule indefinitely. The United States is still the single largest buyer of Venezuala’s oil. However, much of the oil is consumed internally. Petróleos de Venezuela, the state oil company, […]
Republican Agricultural Subsidy Delusions
Sunday, December 2nd, 2007I found the Republican CNN/YouTube debates very entertaining. If you missed them you can check out the transcript here. While I disagree with Huckabee on a number of issues, I found him to be very personable and humorous. Thompson had a great sense of humor, but didn’t seem the least bit presidential. The most interesting […]
Resilient Markets
Saturday, November 24th, 2007I haven’t blogged for the last few days because I was out of state visiting relatives for Thanksgiving. While there, I read this Newsweek story by Rod Nordland on the improving situation in Iraq: The capital’s neighborhoods have calmed in large measure because each is now dominated by one sect or another, with tens of […]
Where have all the free-traders gone?
Thursday, November 15th, 2007According to an early October WSJ poll, 59% of Republican voters think that foreign trade is bad for the economy. These voters agreed with the statement: “Foreign trade has been bad for the U.S. economy, because imports from abroad have reduced demand for American-made goods, cost jobs here at home, and produced potentially unsafe products.” […]
Next Entries »