Somewhere along the line, having a baby has stopped being an inevitable part of the life cycle and started to be one of those things-to-do-before-you-die, like climbing Machu Picchu or running a marathon. Basic aspects of the mothering experience, like labor and breast-feeding, took on a spiritual significance. Now, as we prepare to make the… Continue reading Joyless parents: You’re doing it wrong
Year: 2010
Myths of Austerity
This conventional wisdom isnt based on either evidence or careful analysis. Instead, it rests on what we might charitably call sheer speculation, and less charitably call figments of the policy elites imagination specifically, on belief in what Ive come to think of as the invisible bond vigilante and the confidence fairy. Bond vigilantes are… Continue reading Myths of Austerity
Things We Already Knew – Ross Douthat
It isnt really surprising that if you take the marginal tax rate on labor from 29 percent to 38 percent, raise the tax burden dramatically for the middle and working classes, permanently slash physician reimbursements for Medicare and curb domestic discretionary spending growth as successfully as the Clinton-Gingrich deadlock did in the 1990s, you can… Continue reading Things We Already Knew – Ross Douthat
GOPers Vote For TARP Bailout Continuation, Against Bank Bailout Fund
in a scramble to save the bill in the wake of Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-MA) objections to the conference report, Democrats worked with moderate Republicans to figure out a new way to pay for Wall Street reform. What they came up with was pretty simple: end the TARP legislation (i.e., the much-maligned bank bailout) early.… Continue reading GOPers Vote For TARP Bailout Continuation, Against Bank Bailout Fund
Mystery surrounds ‘horse-boy’ on Google Street View
Gareth Remblance pointed out: “Horse boy isn’t a person, it’s a cheap mask – for example I saw at least three people wearing similar heads at this year’s Download Festival in Donington.” From Mystery surrounds ‘horse-boy’ on Google Street View Yet another oddity preserved on Google Street view.
The Renminbi Runaround
There have been all sorts of calculations purporting to show that the renminbi isnt really undervalued, or at least not by much. But if the renminbi isnt deeply undervalued, why has China had to buy around $1 billion a day of foreign currency to keep it from rising? The effect of this currency undervaluation is… Continue reading The Renminbi Runaround
Missouri farmer calls Democrats “party of parasites”
The Raytown farmer who posted a sign on a semi-truck trailer accusing Democrats of being the Party of Parasites received more than $1 million in federal crop subsidies since 1995. From Missouri farmer calls Democrats “party of parasites” This doesn’t surprise me one bit. In practice most people use terms like Socialism, Fascism etc to… Continue reading Missouri farmer calls Democrats “party of parasites”
Dr. Paul: Not board-certified
Libertarian ideology rejects most of the modern regulatory systems that protect consumers, because everyone should be responsible for determining whether the hamburger contains E. coli on his own. But does that do-it-yourself dogma apply to the regulation of medicine, too? If you’re Dr. Rand Paul, practicing ophthalmologist, the answer is emphatically yes. From Dr. Paul:… Continue reading Dr. Paul: Not board-certified
Oy, Canada – Paul Krugman Blog
I do feel a sense of despair here. Ever since the crisis began, some of us have been trying to get across the point that you have to be very careful with your historical precedents, that things work very differently when you have a synchronized severe financial crisis, with interest rates near zero everywhere. And… Continue reading Oy, Canada – Paul Krugman Blog
Evolution – Eschaton
Evolution We don’t torture. Enhanced interrogation is not torture. A few bad apples tortured. Expert interrogators tortured. The president ordered torture and he’d do it again. From Eschaton by Atrios Nothing more needs to be said.