« The Smart Grid and the Fiscal Stimulus | Main | Assorted links »
The Show So Far
MR has many new readers, especially since the financial crisis, so I thought I would offer this brief guide to what we are all about. Plus one of the readers, under "requests," asked for a foundation statement for this blog. Here, in six easy steps, is "The Show So Far":
2. A "public choice" and indeed Straussian reading of Star Wars.
3. Alex ponders immortality and it changes his life.
5. The economics of relativity.
6. Alex explains the difference between Tyler and Alex.
For this New Year I remain thankful to have what I consider the very best readers in the world.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 8, 2009 at 07:41 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
Good news
Posted by: inguaribile at Jan 8, 2009 8:05:23 AM
Alex should go to lunch with Tyler more often (see, "Luring Alex to lunch" and "Alex ponders immortality and it changes his life").
And can you please mention the restaurant when you tell us a dish was "excellent".
Thank you.
Posted by: at Jan 8, 2009 8:24:08 AM
And thank you for one of the best blogs that I am forced to at least twice a day.
Posted by: SN at Jan 8, 2009 8:49:30 AM
Tyler and Alex, why don't you install a decent commenting system like disqus, for example? You could then add value to your very best readers.
The typepad commenting system is fairly primitive, doesn't allow threading, and requires people to return directly to the blog to find out if anyone has responded to their point.
The disqus plug-in enables threading and centralizes all comments made, with an rss feed. They make a plugin for moveabletype.
You should look into it, especially given that your comments don't even have an rss feed.
Posted by: michael webster at Jan 8, 2009 9:09:30 AM
The real question is, why did you choose this moment to tell us you love us? I think all of your proposed reasons possibly apply. Or did you not follow your own advice?
1. Anxiousness and a desire to reassure oneself in the face of self-doubt.
2. Irritation at the other person, leading to #1.
3. Desire to manipulate the other person by first making him or her feel compliant and secure.
4. Being overcome by suddenly stronger feelings of love, perhaps because of a Proustian reminder.
5. The simple feeling that too long has passed since having said "I love you," presumably combined with the belief that the words are uttered rarely enough to still have potency. You need to signal you are keeping track of such things.
6. The sex was either very good or very bad, see #1 and #4.
7. One has work or chores to do, and is hoping to create a distraction of some kind.
8. To announce that a conversation is over.
Posted by: Alex at Jan 8, 2009 9:26:48 AM
I remain thankful that I found a place that can explain chapter 4 of the "General Theory"
Posted by: libfree at Jan 8, 2009 10:01:47 AM
While "teh quirk" is part of why I come to this blog, I think the posts you selected are somewhat unrepresentative given that you also regularly discuss current events from an academic economics, although somewhat informal, perspective.
To put it differently, I don't regularly read the Freakonomics blog, but I do read this blog.
Posted by: mk at Jan 8, 2009 10:14:16 AM
why did you choose this moment to tell us you love us?
This sounds like a future feature in The Onion:
http://www.theonion.com/content/statshot/where_are_we_taking_our
Posted by: Slocum at Jan 8, 2009 10:46:26 AM
I read MR for the posts and for the comments, which are often of very high quality. And I don't mean _merely_ smart. There are plenty of intelligent blogs out there. The posts and comments usually overflow with interestingness (however you want to define this). I guess there is no secret ingredient, and the Secret is the unusual mix of ingredients.
MR is more a club than a blog. A club of posters and readers creating a very interesting conversation. A place where you can click in everyday and learn something to keep the chat going at cocktail parties.
Posted by: londenio at Jan 8, 2009 11:21:48 AM
Pondering immortality - the reasoning seems flawed. If Alex were unbreakably immortal then he would travel and if Alex knew he had little time left to live then he would travel, but his actual situation is not halfway between these possibilities. Both these possibilities reduce the risk of traveling relative to Alex's actual situation, though in different ways (in one way his imperviousness lowers the risk, and in the other way the fact that he will die soon anyway lowers the risk). Small wonder that he would be more likely to travel.
A better opposite would be: if Alex were unbreakable but mortal would he travel more (I suspect he might), and if Alex were extremely fragile would he travel more (I suspect he would travel less - if he were sufficiently fragile he would be afraid to leave his home).
Posted by: Constant at Jan 8, 2009 12:31:00 PM
It puzzled me that Tyler could not see Paulson for what he was all these months. Now that I realize Tyler views the Jedi as evil, all I can say is: "Well then you truly are lost."
Posted by: Bob Murphy at Jan 8, 2009 1:03:40 PM
I fell in love with MR as soon as I saw it!
Posted by: Daniel at Jan 8, 2009 1:04:36 PM
And Tyler writes beautiful poetry-
FISCAL POLICY
by Tyler Cowen
Recovery requires,
That zombie banks behave like real banks,
That risk premia are properly priced,
And that the economy undergoes its sectoral shifts-
Toward whatever will replace,
Construction and finance and debt-driven consumption.
Fiscal policy won’t do much toward these ends,
And a temporarily successful stimulus,
might hinder these long-run adjustments.
Posted by: Carrie at Jan 8, 2009 1:07:57 PM
Carrie, are you sure that wasn't Robert Frost? It has the ring of his style.
Posted by: mk at Jan 8, 2009 1:14:35 PM
How cute. :)
Posted by: IWantCookieNow at Jan 8, 2009 2:20:14 PM
I've been dropping in to MR since 2004 and I remember all of these! Welcome to the new readers, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I'm yet to meet anyone in person who is a Marginal Revolution fan.
Not only did MR make me a believer in blogs, but I think its been a really influential part of my life. Weird.
Posted by: Michael at Jan 8, 2009 3:44:54 PM
So, the dreaded "clips" episode. Has MR jumped the shark? :)
Posted by: Jule at Jan 8, 2009 4:49:06 PM
What? No explanation of Tyrone?
Or did Tyrone get his own blog now?
Posted by: ZBicyclist at Jan 8, 2009 10:32:01 PM
I would have included this:
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/11/my-simple-thoug.html
Particularly:
"In other words, both voting and not voting are motivated by the thought that you are better than other people. I am glad that we have an entire day devoted to this very important concept."
Far and away the best thing I've ever read on a blog. When the financial crisis was first blowing up I was getting pretty bored/depressed with all the nuts and bolts discussion of the meltdown on MR. That post brought me fully back into the fold.
Posted by: mtc at Jan 9, 2009 12:53:37 AM
