An article by Steven Pinker in The New Republic (The Ivy League Is Broken and Only Standardized Tests Can Fix It ) has set off a firestorm of debate on iSteve and elsewhere. Pinker argues that the admission process for the Ivy Leagues is broken. The admission process can seem frustratingly opaque, and despite the… Continue reading Ivy League Admissions and the Economic Value of ‘Gig’ Jobs

High-School Students With Jobs Don’t Make As Much Money Later In Life A recent paper from economists Charles Baum and Christopher Ruhm found that for a cohort of kids who had jobs in the late 1970s, working for 20 hours a week in the senior year of high school yielded an 8.3 percent wage boost… Continue reading ‘Work Experience’ For Young Adults Provides Little Benefit

To the disappointment of the libs who insist the market is rigged and the economy is weak, the S&P 500 posts another record high. Facebook stock closes above $77 on its way to $100. How much longer will stocks go up? Much longer. The Bush/Bernanke bull market, six years later, is still going strong with… Continue reading Stock Market Surges to New Highs; The Post-2008 Economy, Part 3

An excellent article: Three Misconceptions About the Economy That Should Die “We should stop saying that college tuition has increased at three times the rate of inflation.” According to the College Board, the annual sticker price of attending a private four-year college increased from $17,040 in 1992 to $29,060 in 2012, adjusted for overall inflation.… Continue reading Linkfest & Commentary

An argument can be made that leaked nude celeb photos are good for the digital economy by increasing pageviews for sites that display them. Not much sympathy for the victims on this blog or elsewhere. Having embarrassing photos leaked is part of the price of fame, and the punishment for lascivious behavior. And let’s be… Continue reading Your Online Permanent Record

Some would call this blog elitist, because we don’t wish to have the huddled, uncouth masses tracking their dirty feet on our yellow brick road leading to the technological kingdom of prosperity? Because we wish to pull the bowl of entitlement spending away from the parasitical class, with a sneer and a laugh top it… Continue reading Some Thoughts on Government, Politics & Economics

Outside of the blogosphere, wealth inequality isn’t an important issue to most Americans. From Gallup, fifty-two percent say having rich and poor is an acceptable part of the system. PRINCETON, NJ — More Americans say it is important that the federal government enact policies that grow the economy and increase equality of opportunity than say… Continue reading Wealth Inequality Again

Grover Norquist is right about the need for lower taxes for the rich, more high-tech immigration, and less entitlement spending. Grover Norquist gets 70,000 signatures on no-tax pledge at Burning Man in exchange for one joint. Burning Man is where the educated and well connected go to petition for lower taxes and less regulation, with… Continue reading The Poverty Plan

We’re still in an insufferably slow news cycle, with the biggest stories of the past year being Russia invading Crimea, which occurred six months ago, and America narrowly avoiding default on its debt back on October 2013. Ukraine and Isis, while important, are ongoing and aren’t the kind of breaking news that holds the country… Continue reading The News Cycle and Why Social Networking Threatens the Liberal Media

It’s time for a humble brag to remind myself and maybe the one or two people who read this blog how good I am at predicting stuff. For months, I had been writing that Snapchat is worth at least $10 billion and sure enough: Snapchat Valued at $10 Billion Most people are clouded by a… Continue reading Another Correct Prediction