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Assorted links
1. The new Bruce Bartlett book.
2. Markets in everything: smart memory bras, from Slovenia.
3. Theme park markets in everything China fact of the day.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on May 17, 2009 at 07:25 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
That Q&A had the worst interview questions I had ever seen, it was like the interviewer was from a high school newspaper.
Posted by: Paul N at May 17, 2009 7:51:16 AM
I wonder how Bartlett is going to square "The Failure of Reaganomics" with his 2006 book entitled "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy"
Can something "fail" that according to him was "betrayed"? Did Bush become a staunch Reaganite in his last 2 years.
Most likely that slight discrepancy will be lost in the euphoria of a conservative calling for higher taxes.
Posted by: Bill R at May 17, 2009 8:42:49 AM
I'm haven't read the book so I can't judge it on it's merits but I think it's credible that Bartlett changed his mind. The banking crisis does provide new information and some of that new information can suggest that Reagan's economic policies might have been less good than he initially thought. Reagan championed deregulation of out financial system. Regulation seems more important now and trusting that reducing economic growth is a consequence of low tax rates on the rich seems less credible after a large part of the economic growth of the last decade produced by the very rich was illusory. (Just to be clear I have no interest in defending these arguments, but I think arguments like these can address the apparent inconsistency. A man changes his mind in response to new information.)
Posted by: Michael Foody at May 17, 2009 9:38:58 AM
Here's the Einstein quote. I admit to using the variant:
It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.
* "On the Method of Theoretical Physics" The Herbert Spencer Lecture, delivered at Oxford (10 June 1933); also published in Philosophy of Science, Vol. 1, No. 2 (April 1934), pp. 163-169. [thanks to Dr. Techie @ www.wordorigins.org and JSTOR]
* Variants: Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.
Posted by: Don the libertarian Democrat at May 17, 2009 11:42:41 AM
Did Reagan think we should be running deficits 20(!) years after the fall of the iron curtain?
Posted by: Andrew at May 17, 2009 12:19:02 PM
"I think arguments like these can address the apparent inconsistency."
Fair Enough. I'm merely pointing out that his previous book claims Bush wasn't adhering to a Reaganite program and now is calling that "betrayed" program a failure. I'm sure if he clearly defines and then weights certain aspects of what he deems Reaganomics he may very well have a case.
I actually read "Impostor" and enjoyed it. Bartlett did a great job of detailing Bush's departures from free market economics. Unfortunately I don't remember how much he focused on regulation specifically. He even predicted a financial crisis in the book...but due to some vague notion of "imbalances".
It's just questionable at first glance to devote an entire book to the notion that someone is an "impostor" and then devote another book shortly after accusing the program he supposedly wasn't pursuing as the culprit.
Posted by: Bill R at May 17, 2009 1:21:11 PM
I would think women would avoid the smart memory bra. It would provide an involuntary physical response that would prevent a woman from hiding her current desires. Why give that information away for free? Men have had to pay for it for centuries.
Posted by: techreseller at May 19, 2009 3:17:28 PM
The interview with Scholes is really revealing. What arrogance! Nassim Nicholaus Taleb was proven right by the crash several times over. Scholes lost credibility already with the collapse of LTCM, and apparently the current crash has done nothing to induce at least some contrition. Looking at this interview, Talebs harsh judgement on the guy seems all the more justified. The Nobel committee might do well to avoid math wizards in economics for a while...
Posted by: Siegfried Herzog at May 22, 2009 3:47:34 AM
Posted by: 徵信 at Aug 16, 2009 10:32:03 PM
