Rick Santelli and the STEM Bailout

Rick Santelli loses it on-air: Rick Santelli, like many other pundits, incorrectly predicted there would be hyperinflation as measured by bond prices, but to some extend he is right about inflation in the numerous services that aren’t tied to the treasury market such as healthcare, tuition, air travel, gasoline, food, TV & internet bundles, and… Continue reading Rick Santelli and the STEM Bailout

Ignore the News

A year later, National Review Online is still going on about the IRS emails long after most people stopped caring, including republicans such as myself. Did bad stuff happen? Probably. Will there be a resolution that satisfies the republicans? Probably not. Does the outcome effect your life? Nope. There are two things in the world:… Continue reading Ignore the News

The Daily View: We’re All Becoming Weirdos

Silicon Valley is the center of the universe – a bastion of innovation, capital creation, risk taking, and an unassailable meritocracy where anyone, regardless of national origin, age, or professional status can become instantly rich through hard work and intellect. We’re witnessing a concentration of wealth for the top 1% of IQ, but stagnation for… Continue reading The Daily View: We’re All Becoming Weirdos

More Good News For College Grads

In the smartist era, to be a STEM major is to be among the most important and respected people in the world, especially online where such individuals tend to be elevated to deity status. College graduates, particularly STEM graduates, haven’t experienced a decline in inflation adjusted income levels, unlike everyone else: Notice how those who… Continue reading More Good News For College Grads

The Differences Between Neo/Classical Liberalism and Welfare Liberalism

The most succinct, clear summary of the differences between neo/classical liberalism and welfare liberalism is not found on an academic webpage or a political blog, but on yahoo.com of all places. This is so good, I copied the whole thing in case it gets deleted. Emphasis added in bold. Welfare and neo-classical liberalism are the… Continue reading The Differences Between Neo/Classical Liberalism and Welfare Liberalism

College, The Economy, and America Being in Decline

From Taki’s magazine Activists for a Stupider Tomorrow Some of themes of this article are: 1. credentialism 2. college becoming too expensive 3. college failing to teach useful skills 4. America being in decline 5. bad job market for college grads Regarding #1, #2 & #3, a college degree ‘signals’ to employers that the applicant… Continue reading College, The Economy, and America Being in Decline

The Uselessness of Pop Social Psychology

From a discussion on Marginal Revolution: iSteve writes: The fundamental problem with the human sciences at present is that what is most replicable is that which is most forbidden to acknowledge: that what consistently matters, time and again, are genetic differences represented by race and sex. Everybody kind of deep down knows that’s true because… Continue reading The Uselessness of Pop Social Psychology

The Daily View: Making Predictions, Bubbles, and Post Labor Society

An interesting article from Barry about the folly of predicting: As we have detailed far too many times, people are terrible at making predictions. You draw conclusions from a single data point. You don’t know what the economy is going to do, or where interest rates are going… Predicting stuff isn’t that hard. A good… Continue reading The Daily View: Making Predictions, Bubbles, and Post Labor Society

State of the Labor Market

As shown below, while jobs are being created, many of them are in the low paid service sector, but this doesn’t include ‘gigs’ on TaskRabbit or Craigslist, which typically pay even worse. Many people with college degrees hold jobs that a generation ago would have gone to high school dropouts. But those without a degree… Continue reading State of the Labor Market

The Daily View: American Exceptionalism, Housing, Foreign Investors, and Selling at the Top

A Pew study finds that there are fewer Americans who believe America stands apart from all other nations You cannot gauge America’s exceptionalism or lack thereof with a public sentiment poll. The data is more important and suggests that contrary to popular belief, America’s economic and foreign policy hegemony has only been strengthened in recent… Continue reading The Daily View: American Exceptionalism, Housing, Foreign Investors, and Selling at the Top