LARRY SUMMERS AND THE TECHNOLOGY OF MONEY. “The penetration of e-commerce and the movement toward IT platforms of commerce is going to have a larger and larger impact on the real economy, simply because high percentage rates from a substantial base make more difference than high percentage rates from a very low base. Amazon, and the fraction of all purchasing that’s taking place online, is having a growing impact. We’re also seeing all kinds of industries that nobody conceptualized even a few years ago, built around social networking in one way or another, of which online games are only one example. And we’re seeing—this gets ahead of us slightly—the processes of commerce changing fundamentally when people are able to store value on their cell phones, when people are able to take payments digitally with minimal friction or red tape.”
Archive for 2012
March 30, 2012
ARE STATINS THE REASON WHY FATAL HEART ATTACKS ARE LESS COMMON? “The short answer is yes, but many factors could account for the decline. Indeed, the rate has been going down fairly steadily since 1980 — before the introduction of statins, which lower “bad” cholesterol, a known risk factor for heart disease.”
ECONOMIC THOUGHTS ON female hypergamy.
MORE ON HOW too much sitting raises risk of death.
IN THE MAIL: Patriot Future: A Novel.
HOW’S THAT ARAB SPRING WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Egypt Gets Worse. “As liberals continue to cede ground to the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s increasingly clear that democracy and liberty in Egypt do not point in the same direction. Mounting evidence suggests that the new Egypt will be less liberal than the old one, especially regarding religious minorities and women’s rights.”
HEALTH CARE AND THE DYNAMICS OF INTERVENTION: “There is an externality problem but it is entirely of the government’s making; it isn’t in any way inherent to the industry. There would be no externality if those who defaulted on their health care providers could be held liable.”
YESTERDAY I ASKED if anyone had encountered any Tim Geithner TAX CHEAT bills, and I got this email from reader David Rogers: “I picked this up at Burger King, along with a couple of (disappointingly) unmarked Timmies. And a completely unmolested Hank Paulsen. Enjoy!”
Nice to see that there are some circulating in the wild. Any other sightings?
THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, THEY’D BE SHUTTING DOWN RESEARCH IN THE NAME OF NATIONAL SECURITY. And they were right! U.S. Tightens Reins on Research That Could Be Used by Terrorists.
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Health Care Disaster And The Miseries Of The Blue Model. “This is a horrible piece of legislation — as misbegotten and useless to its friends as it is menacing to its enemies. The question is: why? Why did the blues write such a bad law? Why, given a once in a lifetime chance to pass a program that Dems have longed to achieve ever since the New Deal, did they craft a sloppy mess that nobody understands and few admire, and then leave their law so unnecessarily vulnerable to constitutional challenge? The answers tell us much about why blue progressive thinking is losing its hold on the body politic — and why blue methods generally aren’t working as well as they used to.”
BILL WHITTLE: Afterburner: Merchants Of Despair.
Plus, here’s a YouTube version of my InstaVision interview with Walter Russell Mead.
A PHYSICIAN WRITES ABOUT AMERICA’S GROWING DRUG SHORTAGES:
Just got word that several additional medications have been added to the national list of “drug shortages”. Doctors better start learning more about wilderness medicine at this rate.
Read the whole thing.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: No Financial Aid, No Problem. For-Profit University Sets $199-a-Month Tuition for Online Courses.
Students are flocking to Western Governors University, driving growth of 30 to 40 percent each year. You might expect that competitors would be clamoring to copy the nonprofit online institution’s model, which focuses on whether students can show “competencies” rather than on counting how much time they’ve spent in class.
So why haven’t they?
Two reasons, says the education entrepreneur Gene Wade. One, financial-aid regulatory problems that arise with self-paced models that aren’t based on seat time. And two, opposition to how Western Governors changes the role of professor, chopping it into “course mentors” who help students master material, and graders who evaluate homework but do no teaching.
Read the whole thing.
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: If The Court Dumps ObamaCare, Republicans Must Be Ready. “If the Supreme Court chucks ObamaCare entirely, which looks increasingly likely, Republicans will finally have a chance to redefine the debate. But only if they get educated and put together reform ideas now. . . . For too long, Democrats have defined the health care issue, depicting the U.S. system as an unfettered market where costs run wild, insurers rip off consumers and deny coverage to tens of millions, and big-government ‘reforms’ are desperately needed. None of it is true.”
CONFIDENCE IN SCIENCE BY CONSERVATIVES HAS DECLINED SINCE 1974: “That represents a dramatic shift for conservatives, who in 1974 were more likely than liberals or moderates (all categories based on self-identification) to express confidence in science. While the confidence levels of other groups in science have been relatively stable, the conservative drop now means that group is the least likely to have confidence in science.”
The reason is the use of science as an argument-from-authority for bigger government. If scientists want more trust, perhaps they should try not to be tools.
UPDATE: Reader Mary Ritenour writes:
I tracked back to the original paper (http://www.asanet.org/images/journals/docs/pdf/asr/Apr12ASRFeature.pdf) to see what the exact survey question was.
“The GSS asked respondents the following question: “I am going to name some institutions in this country. As far as the people running these institutions are concerned, would you say you have a great deal of confidence, only some confidence, or hardly any confidence at all in them [the Scientific Community]?”(page 172)
The confidence in “people running these institutions” was being measured, not “Science” itself. Huge difference. HUGE!
Maybe we should be skeptical of science reporting, too.
EUROPE: Two men torch themselves in Italy as hardship bites. “A Moroccan worker in Italy set himself on fire on Thursday in protest at not being paid for months, a day after an Italian businessman set himself alight over a tax dispute, police said.”
TOM BLUMER: The Green Jobs Boondoggle. “One thing at which the ‘green’ portion of the public sector has become particularly adept is burning through taxpayer money.” The “green” portion of the private sector has been doing pretty well at that, too.
NOW, A LOWER EDUCATION BUBBLE: People Are Taking Out Student Loans to Pay for Kindergarten. “Families are taking out tens of thousands of dollars worth of loans in order to pay for private kindergarten for their whelps. That is some f*cked up sh*t.”
WHY IS THIS THE FCC’S BUSINESS? FCC pushes for tablet computers in schools.
LEAKED: DOJ to Indict SC Gov. Nikki Haley on Tax Fraud Charges. I blame anti-Sikh racism for this persecution.
HARRY REID: No recess appointments this time.
PROF. RICK SANDER LOOKS AT the mismatch effect and law school affirmative action.
A. BARTON HINKLE: NOBODY LIKES A BULLY. I dunno, we elected one President. . . .