voluntaryXchange

An “Economists” Category on Jeopardy

Jeopardy had a category on economists the other day.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry: the contestants couldn’t even offer an answer to 3 out of 4 of them.

Peter Boettke posted the video.

Technorati Tags: jeopardy,economist

Cool Science: Bad Driving Is Genetic

FuturePundit reports that up to 30% of the population has a genetic variant that makes them worse drivers:

"These people make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away," said Dr. Steven Cramer, neurology associate professor and senior author of the study published recently in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

Technorati Tags: bad,driving,genes

Normandy Photo Pairs

Photos of Normandy taken in 1944 and the same place 60 years later.

Hat tip to Joe Baker.

Technorati Tags: normandy,war,photo,pair,sixty,years,later,60

The Growth Grade for 2009 III

As expected, real GDP growth came in strong for the 3rd quarter – at an above average 3.5%.

That works out to a “B” on my standard grade scale.

On my contemporary college letter-grading scale, it works out to an “A”.

Technorati Tags: real,gdp,growth,letter,grade,2009,iii

BetterPaste

Paste text formatted by someone else without their formatting – all through the regular CTRL-V key.

It’s from Lifehacker, and uses their (free) Autohotkey utility.

I’ve already found this very useful …

P.S. I’ve been using this for a few days now, and I have found that it does interfere with normal use of CTRL-V to move files using cut and paste. As it is set up, BetterPaste maps the “regular” CTRL-V to CTRL-SHIFT-V. Please note that Autohotkey scripts like this are very easy to edit, so all I did is switch those key assignments and I was good to go.

Technorati Tags: betterpaste,autohotkey,lifehacker,paste,formatting,without,delete

What Is It About Barack Obama that Causes Such Cringe-Inducing Butt-Kissing?

That’s not my line: John Steele Gordon – a writer of pop history – used it in regard to the five mistakes in one sentence from the new head of the National Endowment for the Arts.

For details, read the piece: “Pardon Me, Your Sycophancy Is Showing”.

Via Newmark's Door.

Technorati Tags: national,endowmnent,arts,obama,writer

The Governator Gets Snarky

From FOXNews:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger typically attaches a message to bills he signs or vetoes telling lawmakers why he took the action.

A Democratic assemblyman who heckled the governor during a recent event in San Francisco actually received two messages: the veto letter itself and a not-so-subtle rebuke creatively hidden within it.

Like a find-the-word puzzle, the second message was visible by stringing together the first letter of each line down the left-hand margin. It consisted of a common four-letter vulgarity followed by the letters "y-o-u."

Click to see the letter (via San Francisco Chronicle)

"My goodness. What a coincidence," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. [emphasis added]

The letter is worth a quick peek.

Technorati Tags: arnold,schwarzenegger,governor,hidden,message

What If It Was Rockies vs. Yankees?

They’re forecasting 18 inches of snow in Denver. It’s been snowing here (500 miles to the southwest) for 24 hours, so this seems plausible.

About 3 weeks ago vX posted about the problem with having a baseball team in Denver now that the season runs into November. That was in response to a small amount of snow in Denver postponing one game: 18 inches in Denver this time of year could postpone a game for 4-5 days.

Technorati Tags: snow,denver,baseball,world,series

If Chris Dodd Doesn’t Mark-to-Market, Why Should the Financial Institutions Under His Purview?

Now that Congress is starting to look a little more deeply into the Countrywide VIP loan scandal, it’s worthwhile to revisit the twisted logic of bank regulation pursued by those involved in the shenanigans.

For example, Senator Chris Dodd owns a house in Ireland, the value of which is about 10 times what he reports on his financial disclosure forms.

Dodd is a senior member of the Senate banking committee.

In his defense, Dodd included a footnote on his disclosure forms that this home is valued at its purchase price not its current market price.

There is no crime in this, although it is self-serving to report the value that is more favorable to oneself.

This is precisely what banks are not permitted to do under current mark-to-market regulations. Instead, banks must report and act upon the current market value of their assets, whether or not this is favorable to them.

Congress didn’t invent this rule.

However, for practical purposes, the only organization that could husband legislation that might relax or suspend this rule promptly is the Senate banking committee.

It is ironic that this committee is headed by someone who extends a privilege to themselves without extending it to others, particularly considering the negative externalities that mark-to-market has imposed on the rest of the economy.

Technorati Tags: chris,dodd,ireland,mark,to market

Bret Stephens on Marxism

From “Freaked Out Over Superfreakonomics” in the October 27 issue of The Wall Street Journal:

Part of the genius of Marxism, and a reason for its enduring appeal, is that it fed man's neurotic fear of social catastrophe while providing an avenue for moral transcendence.

Technorati Tags: marxism,quote