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Someone Please Explain DeLong’s Intro

I am not being a wise aleck, I really want to know what DeLong is talking about in the opening of this post when he writes: “If the problem were on the supply side–that we had an excess supply of construction workers–then we would see excess demand for something else. But we don’t.” Presumably he […]

Wenzel-Lira Cage Match

This is too funny. Just skim these, in this order: 1) Lira explains his shocking new discovery, based on new philosophical developments: Apparently voters irrationally vote for high spending and low taxes, even though any individual should know that this is unsustainable. Lira actually claims that this is something economists cannot explain. 2) Wenzel says […]

Thoughts on the Arizona Shooting

I’m sure most readers have heard about this tragic event. Whenever something like this happens, I know a lot of anti-government people (who would never personally engage in violence except in direct self-defense) sympathize with the assailant. Let me point out some things, not because I am a fount of moral wisdom, but because it’s […]

Fallacies Multiplying Like Rabbits

[Non-typo UPDATE below.] OK I need to get this out of my system, so I can proceed to more important things… If you need to get up to speed on Landsburg’s population brain teaser, go to this post. Here, I am going to assume every reader is hip deep in the problem and needs my […]

What Fraction of His Money Do You Expect Landsburg to Lose?

I am ashamed to admit how many hours in the last few days I have devoted to this silly problem I first read on Steve Landsburg’s blog: There’s a certain country where everybody wants to have a son. Therefore each couple keeps having children until they have a boy; then they stop. What fraction of […]

The Real Controversy of the Obama/Stewart “Dude” Exchange

I was in a cocoon when this originally happened, but apparently there was a big brouhaha when the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart called President Obama “dude” during their interview. I heard the clip on NPR, as one of the memorable events of 2010. The thing is, it’s the earlier part of their exchange that caught […]

Inapt Analogy

Here’s Tom Woods relaying a nullification anecdote: The Intercollegiate Studies Institute recently held a very interesting debate at the University of Virginia on state nullification, between Allen Guelzo of Eastern University and Donald Livingston of Emory University. You can watch it or listen to it. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see the question period, […]