links for 2009-10-17
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This is going to be a lot shorter than the Freakonomics one, and it is basically going to consist of this link, via the Paul Krugman blog, and the observation that if you find yourself writing, in all seriousness, as a practical proposal, the phrase "pumping large quantities of sulphur dioxide into the Earth’s stratosphere through an 18-mile-long hose, held up by helium balloons", it is probably time to take a step back and ask yourself if something has gone a little bit wrong with your life.
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Dubner, who also writes a popular New York Times blog with Levitt, dismissed Romm's post in an email to me yesterday as "hard to take seriously"...
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If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, but it’s continually striking how thoroughly defined modern American conservatism is by opposition to opposition to racism. Isaac Chotiner observes a National Review article chuckling over the fact that John Derbyshire’s bigotry discomfits liberals while Adam Server brings us folks who wouldn’t necessary make the kind of racist statements Rush Limbaugh makes nonetheless circling the wagons to defend him from his critics. Next time Republican strategists are wondering why Michael Steele’s embrace of hip slang hasn’t brought black people flocking to their doors, conservatives might want to consider some of this behavior. I suspect it’s not helping the right with its endless quest to woo Jews, either.
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Richard Rahn, recently had a segment on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer canceled. In this case, however, it wasn't because he had the wrong point of view, but because the show found a better guest to say the same thing. Again, this is part of the game. Policy wonks all know that if a producer can bag a congressman or senator to make his point he is going to get bumped. No problem. What is funny about Richard's experience is that he wasn't bumped for a bigger name, but for another economist prepared to make his points in the form of rap.... "We just learned that Russ Roberts, a professor of economics at George Mason University, who was our second choice for the anti-Keynes position, is shooting a rap video about Keynes and Hayek next week in New York. He has written the lyrics (they are quite good), hired rappers and musicians, and tapped professional music video producers -- there will be bling, babes, limos, the works"...
