Economics and Social Policy - XXXVIII

Welcome to the August 28 2007 edition of Economics and Social Policy. Lots of good stuff from new contributors, as well as some of the old favorites. Let’s boogie! (err, or some less faded term)

Kevin Bedell presents The New Values of the 21st Century Citizen posted at 21st Century Citizen.

An interesting, but confused call for a market economy. Most people who call for greater cooperation, collaboration, etc., don’t realize that’s how the economy works. If enough people change their buying habits, corporations and other businesses will respond accordingly. The Linux comparison is interesting – certainly a collaborative effort, but it won’t go far until people figure out how to make a buck from it. Even the open source geeks hope to strike it rich.

Marlon J. Broussard presents The True value of Money in Our Age MoneyBlog posted at MoneyBlog.

I’m as much of a goldbug as the next guy, and the manipulation of the dollar by the Fed to finance the expansion of government over the last 80 years or so has certainly had adverse consequences.

That said, you simply can’t do straight up comparisons of the purchasing power of the 1913 dollar with the current one. It’s just not a straight up comparison of the quantity of money, it’s what you get for the dollar. Washing machines. Dishwashers. Computers. Reliable transportation. Etc.

B. Durtschi presents Casino Patrons to be Reimbursed for Losses posted at Normalized Paranoia.

As some other blogger would say, Heh. Any correlation between this article, and the sub prime mortgage mess, is, as they say, purely coincidental.

Charles H. Green presents The Deeper Message of Financial Markets' Volatility posted at Trust Matters.

As the comic (Ron White?) says, you can’t fix stupid. And once you combine stupid with greedy on a massive scale, you have a sub prime mortgage mess.

David Gross presents The Picket Line — 19 August 2007 posted at The Picket Line, saying, "A review of Bill McKibben's "Deep Economy" (2007)."

No sale. Arguments like Mr. McKibben’s, that we were better off in 1969, are usually made by old overweight bald guys with ponytails whose last date occurred in 1969. And, as mentioned above, there’s a whole lotta stuff available now that wasn’t in 1969. Like Blogs.

Mr. Gross notes that the economics are sloppy. That’s an indicator that the rest of the work is sloppy as well. It’s a pretty even handed review, so read the whole thing.

It’s certainly true that stuff does not necessarily equate to happiness.

Matthew Paulson presents What to Do If You Have a Sub-Prime Mortgage posted at Getting Green.

Can’t understand why there are so many sub prime mortgage posts this week….

Best mortgage advice: Get a 30 year fixed, and try to pay it off over 15 or 20 years.

Remember: Credit is something you go into the bank with, not something the bank gives you.

Steven Silvers presents PowerPoint presentation on news story about business school requiring PowerPoint presentation from applicants. posted at Scatterbox at stevensilvers.com.

Sweet. There’s hardly a more inconsequential skill than PowerPoint. This is like a big invitation to show Chicago how stupid you are. Good presentations are never carried by the slides; they are carried by the skill and knowledge of the presenter. Haven’t these folks ever heard of Tufte?

There’s nothing worse than slideware for serious data analysis.


Steven Silvers presents Vick story prompts greyhound racing industry to defend itself earlier than usual. posted at Scatterbox at stevensilvers.com.

Gotta admit, I’m not too bothered by dog racing. Or horse racing. Or hunting. Dog fighting, chicken fighting, or bear / bull baiting seems to be on a different level.

Warren Wong presents Why You Should Invest For The Long Term posted at Personal Development for INTJs.

Efficient markets. Tough to beat.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Economics and Social Policy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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