Should Election Results Be Posted in Realtime?
I’ve been watching the 2006 Election Results all night, and I thought I’d share a discussion I had with my uncle tonight. Well, debate is more like it. So far with this blog, I haven’t really solicited...
View ArticleA Brief Note for President Gerald Ford (1913-2006) & My Historical Blind Spot
I’ve been reading a lot of the coverage this week about President Ford. It has been extremely educational for me, since Gerald Ford falls into what I call my historical blind spot. Almost everyone is...
View ArticleRed State vs. Blue State vs. Purple America
Sorry, a lot of politics tonight. I guess it’s all the news about President Ford. Still, I had to share this. I don’t know how I missed it, but in all the debate about what it means to live in a “red...
View ArticleNew XShares ETF for Carbon Emission Credits, and new Index from UBS
The magic of the modern capital markets. You can invest in anything. First, you need to turn something into a tradeable security. With derivatives, you can do this with almost anything. London has done...
View ArticleBook Review: Empire, by Orson Scott Card
Does the idea of a book about a near future American civil war between conservatives and liberals sound interesting to you? Complete, of course, with a George Soros-clone turned militant leader, and...
View ArticleOpenCongress.com Beta
Catching up on my friends’ blogs tonight. Found this tidbit from John really interesting. Check out OpenCongress.org — an exceptionally important site brought to you by the same folks who bring you the...
View ArticleElectronic Warfare: Israel’s Syria Bombing Raid
I don’t normally post about military or political events here, but this this article had a specific technology angle to it, and I thought it was too interesting to ignore. From Aviation Week: Syrian...
View ArticleDo I Agree with Paul Krugman on Trade?
Not that it would be so terrible, given that Paul Krugman is clearly a fairly brilliant economist. But over the past few years, as he has become more and more of a shrill political voice, and less and...
View ArticleThe Problem With Raising the Capital Gains Tax Now
OK, normally I stay away from posts that could be perceived as political. But it’s hard to comment on economic issues in the heat of this intense primary season without venturing into those dangerous...
View ArticleCorrelation or Causality: Starbucks & Obama
This one was too good not to share. See below for a graph mapping out the correlation between the number of Starbucks and the margin of victory/defeat for Obama vs. Clinton. From the Urbanspoon: Is...
View ArticleObama Victory Probability at Over 85% (Iowa Electronic Markets)
I’ve really enjoyed the ongoing empirical experiments at the Iowa Electronic Markets, where people can use real money to trade futures on political (and other) events. As can be expected, political...
View ArticleOsama Bin Laden and $144 Oil
Just got a pointer to this old article from the New York Times, dated October 14, 2001: That sympathizers of Osama bin Laden sink three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and choke off the narrow,...
View ArticleAn Obama Article During the Republican Convention
I generally don’t write about politics here on my blog, largely because I tend to be more issue-oriented than party-oriented, and that seems to bring out fire from both sides of the aisle. Right now,...
View ArticleAlan Greenspan is Right on Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac
The incredibly historic economic news keeps coming this week. Truly momentous. It’s as if every article, every book, every course I’ve ever taken in modern economic history and theory was to prepare...
View ArticleNeed Help: Obama on Glass-Steagall Repeal in 1999
I need some help here from those closer to the inner workings of the Barrack Obama campaign. I have it from fairly good sources that Obama has a strong economic team, and that he’s intelligent. So why...
View ArticleWhy the Liberal Political Engine is Working in 2008
“You have a great name. He must kill your name before he kills you.” — Juba, from the movie Gladiator I’ve almost finished reading Paul Krugman’s The Conscience of a Liberal. I’ll post a formal book...
View ArticleProblems with Obama’s Tax Credit = Tax Cut Accounting
I normally stay away from politically tinged posts. Tonight, I’m posting two. Call it formal recognition that the McCain candidacy is a lost cause, and that Obama is going to take the White House....
View ArticleCarter:Bush, Reagan:Obama, Clinton:???
Whimsical pondering on politics tonight. The Conscience of a Liberal has had more of an impact on me than I thought. Let’s assume for a second that Carter was an unmitigated disaster, leading to an...
View Article2004 Election Map by County
On the eve before the 2008 elections, I thought I’d post a picture I saved from the last election in 2004. It’s hard to believe the likely difference between this almost completely red map and the map...
View Article2008 Election Map by County
This is a quick follow on post to my 2004 Election Map by County from a week ago. Needless to say, it definitely shifted bluer this election. I thought I’d post it here so there would be an easy...
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