STEVE CHAPMAN: “One of the great achievements of our time has been the conquest of inflation. In the 1970s, it ravaged our savings, raised our taxes, and kept the economy on a roller coaster. So it is a measure of our current economic crisis that the return of inflation might be the best thing that could happen.” I’m inclined to disagree, but I hope he’s right — because I think it’s very likely that we’ll see high inflation down the line.

DANIEL DREZNER TAKES THE BOEING: “That’s right, I’m officially selling out!!”

MAPPING GENE EXPRESSION IN THE BRAIN, with nanotechnology.

IN THE MAIL: From Bradley Watson, Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence.

WASHINGTON, DC: Bistro Francais, in Georgetown.

ALAN BOYLE LOOKS AT the year in science.

BLOGGINGHEADS: Matt Welch against an auto bailout.

DUDE, HERE’S YOUR RECESSION: Economy declined 0.5 percent in third quarter. And they expect a bigger decline this quarter, which would be two quarters of negative growth.

SEASON’S BEATINGS.

SILICON GRAFFITI: In Dodd We Trust?

SOME INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS on St. George Tucker, Saul Cornell, and Justice Stevens. (Bumped).

ONE ADVANTAGE OF RECESSION: You can Get that Aston Martin for the Price of a Honda.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE:

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., was asked Monday about releasing the particulars of his alleged special mortgage rate treatment from Countrywide Financial, a company that has been heavily criticized in the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Dodd sidestepped the issue, as he has done on several other occasions.

“It’s Christmas [time],” a reporter noted to Dodd after his Westport meeting Monday with union leaders in Westport, asking him for the mortgage details.

“I didn’t quite think of Christmas in this way,” Dodd responded, adding that the information would be coming, but refused to say when.

Just put Angelo Mozilo in a Santa suit and he’ll understand . . . .

ANOTHER SATISFIED READER: Stephen Johnson emails:

Just an FYI. I upgraded to an Amazon Prime membership after reading what you wrote about it, and boy what a deal! We ordered 95% of our Christmas Gifts (Yes, I said “Christmas” and not “Holiday”) this year from Amazon and took advantage of the free 2-day shipping, and here in the Portland, Oregon Metro area we are currently experiencing a massive snow event of over 10″ of snow (Curse you Global Warming!!!!). All local stores were sold out of Snow Shovels. However, Mother Amazon came through with $3.99 overnight delivery of a great shovel for a fair price.

Yes, except for a few restaurant gift cards I did all my Christmas shopping via Amazon; it was painless and fast! And the Prime is still marked down to $59 for the year at the moment.

HMM. John Tierney dissed Obama’s science-adviser pick. Then the Times editorial page praised it. Now Tierney’s blog doesn’t show on the Science page. Probably nothing, but . . .

UPDATE: Tierney emails that they’ve been having computer problems. His blog is back on the science page now. Whew. I was afraid somebody had pulled a Palmieri.

JOEL KOTKIN: Goodbye, Gentry. “The proposed investiture of Caroline Kennedy as the replacement senator for Hillary Clinton has inspired a surprising degree of opposition. . . . Perhaps less obvious may be a wider disdain expressed by even liberal New Yorkers who feel Kennedy’s elevation may be one celebrity rising too many. Although the big New York editorial boards are expected to line up, like so many obedient lap dogs, grassroots dissent seethes.”

THE OP-ED THE NEW YORK TIMES wouldn’t run. Perhaps if the author had pretended to be French . . . .

UH OH! Beware L’Homme Fatale!

Dan Collins says there’s nothing new here. So how does this relate to “himbos” and hyper-masculine bloggers?

DANIEL DREZNER: Jennifer Palmieri Has a Really Bad Day In The Blogosphere.

HAPPY FESTIVUS!

JERRY POURNELLE: “The way out of our economic problems is increased production. It’s a lot easier to divide up a big pie than a small pie. . . . There are two keys to increased productivity: low energy prices, and a well educated work force imbued with a work ethic. Eliminate either and you have a society either unable or unwilling to meet the demands of the non-productive (which includes both the deserving poor and the undeserving poor as well as those ’employed’ in ‘jobs’ that consume but add nothing to the goods available for distribution). When energy prices and/or appropriate education are threatened, it’s rather difficult to have a positive reaction.”

THEY TOLD ME THAT IF WE WON IN IRAQ, GAS WOULD BE CHEAP. And they were right! “The average national price of gasoline fell 9 cents in the past two weeks, bringing it to its lowest point in nearly five years, according to a national survey released Sunday.”

THE CARNIVAL OF SPACE is up.

TOP TEN MEDIA BLUNDERS OF 2008: But Michael Silence asks, why stop at 10?

IN THE MIDST OF ALL THE RICK WARREN DEBATE, the important question is what do law professors think?