Search for: "Mike Rappaport"
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6 Nov 2006, 2:47 pm
Bryan Caplan, whose work I greatly admire, argues that public choice is too optimistic about the operation of democracy: Public choice economists are used to blaming what they call "rational ignorance." In elections with millions of voters, the personal benefits of learning more about policy are negligible, because one vote is so unlikely to change the outcome. So why bother learning? In my book, however, I argue that rational ignorance has been oversold. Rational ignorance cannot explain… [read post]
3 Nov 2006, 10:55 pm
Max Boot, guest blogging at VC, writes: Two colonels of the Chinese People's Liberation Army envision "unrestricted warfare" encompassing not only traditional force-on-force encounters but also financial warfare (subverting banking systems and stock markets), drug warfare (attacking the fabric of society by flooding it with illicit drugs), international law warfare (blocking enemy actions using multinational organizations), resource warfare (seizing control of vital natural… [read post]
31 Oct 2006, 3:58 pm
Greg Mankiw is a card carrying member of the Pigou Club, whose members favor higher Pigovian taxes in order to remedy externalities such as pollution and congestion while raising government revenue. So Mankiw favors raising the gas tax. Mankiw also discusses reasons why one would not join the club. His fourth reason seems right to me:You recognize the externalities but think the government should try to correct the market failure through regulations . . . or through… [read post]
22 Feb 2011, 10:28 pm
You know, I am beginning to like these guys. [read post]
14 Feb 2011, 9:17 pm
I am not sure this 100% true, but it is pretty close: It's odd, isn't it, the persistence of such an archaic and, as the women's studies professor would say, gendered ritual? In the post-feminist world, women can propose a dinner date, a raise or a hookup. They can suggest making child care 50/50, an IPO plan or a threesome. But they can never propose marriage. Ever. Unlike line repair, truck driving, running the House of Representatives or the State Department, question popping… [read post]
10 Feb 2011, 5:40 pm
I haven't been following the Egypt situation too closely, but it seems to me that Obama has been far more vocal in urging Mubarak to step down than he was about the Iranian Mullahs in 2009. And doesn't this get it exactly wrong! As usual, of course! Not that I feel that Mubarak is anything great, but the Mullahs are worse and the Iranian protesters are better than the Muslim Brotherhood. [read post]
4 Jan 2011, 12:59 am
John Elwood, at the Volokh Conspiracy, notes that President Obama made several recess appointments on December 29. Elwood states that these appointments were intersession recess appointments (rather than intrasession appointments). While these appointments are regarded as constitutional under existing law, I have argued that appointments of this sort violate the original meaning of the Constitution. In particular, I maintain that under the original meaning (1) all intrasession recess appointments… [read post]
26 Nov 2010, 3:09 pm
Some astounding facts about Meditation: First, once more from Jonathan Haidt's The Happiness Hypothesis: A person's average or typical level of happiness is that person's "affective style." ("Affect" refers to the felt or experienced part of emotion.) Your affective style reflects the everyday balance of power between your approach system and your withdrawal system, and this balance can be read right from the forehead. It has long been known from studies of… [read post]
7 Oct 2010, 9:36 pm
Steven Pinker once again asks the provocative questions. What questions are taboo to even consider? Interestingly, one can easily imagine questions that upset both the left and right. Neither is immune from this. Excellent and very short. [read post]
18 Sep 2010, 10:28 pm
That's my reaction to this wonderful paragraph from Doctor Zero being quoted throughout the right blogosphere. I don't mean the term "wishful thinking" in the ordinary way, as referring to something that is not true, but one wishes it were true. I intend the term to mean "I wish it were true" without implying it is false. In fact, I think the Doctor Zero's statement is pretty close to the truth, although I admit it may be a bit optimistic. But it is delicious: Let… [read post]
7 Sep 2010, 9:34 pm
Obama favors a tax increase (or, if you will, a refusal to allow a current reduced tax rate to continue). That Obama will not support the continuation of the Bush tax cuts for people with incomes above $250K, even though this would help with the recession, shows that Obama either lets ideology take priority over electoral strength or has really drank the cool aid and believes that this would not help with the recession, or both. I think the answer might be both. Certainly, he has behaved this way… [read post]
12 Aug 2010, 11:01 pm
Tonight I bought two computers, neither of them a Dell. After having who knows how many Dells -- we have 8 now if you count the computer the school provides at my desk -- I will never buy another. Of course, I didn't have to argue with the salesperson at the Best Buy, who recommended against buying a Dell. And of course there is a lawsuit against Dell, as reported by the New York Times: Still, many customers complained that their computers were breaking at unprecedented rates and that Dell was… [read post]
13 Jul 2010, 12:48 am
This is so surprising. I never would have expected this. Patrick Michaels reports on the "see no evil" behavior of the "independent" committees. [read post]
31 Mar 2010, 12:33 am
Gary Johnson was the Governor of New Mexico from 1995 until 2003, and he describes himself as a libertarian leaning Republican. He sounds like he is running for President in 2012. I had never really focused on the guy before, but just heard a radio interview of him. He is really libertarian. He talks about cutting entitlements straight out, saying Social Security and Medicare were mistakes. He say he believes in a strong defense, but wants to bring the troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq. And he… [read post]
27 Mar 2010, 10:05 pm
Well, Barack Obama, with that new brand of politics that has so dazzled the country, has now made 15 recess appointments. If Obama were an ordinary politician, we could excuse his action on the ground that this type of thing is done by Presidents of both parties. (After all, although I (and others) have argued that recess appointments in these circumstances are unconstitutional, the courts have not agreed, even though I don't think the argument is even close.) But Obama is special -- smart,… [read post]
26 Mar 2010, 3:37 pm
I am not sure how many Jews still support Israel (but I am guessing a majority), and I am not sure how many of those voted for Obama (but again I am guess a majority), but that group would appear to be comprised of a large percentage of (what Glenn calls the) rubes. Who are the rubes? In this context, it would be the people who believed the Obama rhetoric about supporting Israel, even though the facts, especially his associations, suggested otherwise. Of course, some of these people may not care so… [read post]
24 Jan 2010, 12:08 am
I don't go out to the movies too often, preferring to catch them at home. But I saw Up in the Air last night and I am quite glad I did. The movie was really excellent. It kept my attention, was funny, had a serious message, was not offensive in any way, and was fresh. I am no expert about awards, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it win the Acadamy Award. While others might predict Avatar, which I haven't seen, based on what I heard about it, I would think Hollywood would be more… [read post]
13 Mar 2008, 12:42 am
Courtesy of orgtheory.net, this is pretty cool: 1. Go to Google. 2. Type "find chuck norris" into the search box. 3. Hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button. [read post]
20 Nov 2006, 12:22 am
Boy, can Mark Steyn write: You think Kurds and Arabs, Sunni and Shia are incompatible? What do you call a jurisdiction split between post-Christian secular gay potheads and anti-whoring anti-sodomite anti-everything-you-dig Islamists? If Kurdistan's an awkward fit in Iraq, how well does Pornostan fit in the Islamic Republic of Holland? And, of course, he really has something to say. Hap tip: Jeremy Rabkin's review of Mark Steyn's book. Jeremy is pretty entertaining himself. [read post]
13 Nov 2006, 8:07 pm
Nancy Pelosi has promised to pass a bill at the beginning of the next session requiring the government to negotiate with drug companies over prescription drug prices. This, of course, will result in price controls, something that the Bush Administration promised would not happen under its prescription drug program. Will Bush veto Pelosi's bill? He should, I hope he will, but I can imagine him not vetoing it. If he does sign the bill, that will move him closer to the… [read post]
