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Assorted links
1. New World Bank blog on the financial crisis
3. How ants avoid traffic jams
4. 96 pt. type and day-after newspaper arbitrage
Posted by Tyler Cowen on November 6, 2008 at 10:40 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
2. I'd go with Summers. He seems like a guy who doesn't care about appearances. Heuristic, yes. But, who other than a professor would want to fake that signal? Appearances seems to be all Fed Governors seem to think about.
Posted by: Andrew at Nov 6, 2008 11:25:14 AM
Nice list of good posts.
Posted by: Trevor at Nov 6, 2008 12:20:20 PM
Let me guess, the ant queen exacts a toll on the ant trails so the marginal cost of using the trail equals marginal benefit?
Posted by: Jouke at Nov 6, 2008 1:16:28 PM
Re: the demand for Nov 6 newspapers
How well do people know their own future preference for mementos that must be purchased today? How many people still care about the year 2000 stuff that seemed that they would be treasured forever? Or perhaps events like Obama's winning have more lasting value as memories than arbitrary things like round year numbers.
Posted by: Kevin Postlewaite at Nov 6, 2008 1:30:28 PM
kevin i think there's a lot more emotional attachment to obama's win. there are so many people who thought the US could never have a black president, and who've been really angry with the last 8 years. half the people i know were so happy they were crying. on the other hand, everyone knew that eventually the number would switch from 1999 to 2000 and it didnt really represent a massive sea change.
Posted by: pants at Nov 7, 2008 12:14:03 AM
oh, and TEAM SUMMERS
Posted by: pants at Nov 7, 2008 12:14:44 AM
Last sentence sums it up nicely, "If Summers ends up with the Treasury job, it's more than a little reassuring that he'd still have Geithner at the New York Fed--telling him when he's full of it."
Geithner is already doing a great job in his current position and is only a phone call away for consult. Summers is excellent and wouldn't be stressed by the politics of the job.
Posted by: cchjd at Nov 7, 2008 1:24:12 AM
Ants avoid traffic jams by having enough spare 'road' capacity to handle all of the ants, not by 'telling' each other about traffic problems. If 'telling' each other about traffic problems was all that was needed, all of those helicopter flying around reporting on traffic would have already solved the problem. Traffic is a problem because finding out about a traffic jam on I-35 doesn't magically produce an alternative route for many of the drivers.
Posted by: rvman at Nov 7, 2008 1:18:05 PM
Though the imagery of cars on the highway veering across the median to physically 'redirect' oncoming traffic to a new route is amusing, in a Death Race 2000 sort of way.
Posted by: rvman at Nov 7, 2008 1:34:34 PM
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