I have to admit to being a little perplexed by the outrage at Rush Limbaugh’s bid to be part of the new ownership group for the Saint Louis Rams.  I mean, I understand that people do not like Rush Limbaugh.  I myself do not like him or his show at all.
I don’t think his job [...]

The news of IBM’s acquisition of SPSS is a business move, but it is indicative of the importance of understanding complex information in the modern world.  Imagine telling someone in 1985 that IBM would be largely a consulting company and that it would make headlines in acquiring a statistical analysis software company.  I grew up in [...]

I have kept only the loosest of eyes on the health care reform, because, as I suspect is the case for many people, the mind boggles trying to track both the relevant public information, the way it is getting distorted by various interests, and the difference between the two.  In this post, I’d like to [...]

Richard Posner’s understanding of the Geithner plan on “toxic assets” and why we ought to be satisfied with it as a solution is very well stated.  
A problem with that approach, however–a political rather than an economic problem, if politics can be separated from economics in a depression (I don’t think it can be)–is that [...]

Five Thirty-Eight has a nice post on the increase in debt per household and it’s effect on the economy.  The data is interesting to me in part because it corrects my perceptions about credit card debt.  The image below is from Nate Silver’s post.  

 
I thought it might be useful to post a Wikipedia graphs on [...]

The phrase sunk cost comes to mind in hearing their latest news.

I highly recommend this article from Michael Lewis of the New York Times on our financial woes.  A heavy handed trivia question: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Karl Polyani, Charles Lindblom: what do they all have as a common emphasis that Frederick von Hayek, James Mill, Milton Friedman, John Maynard Keynes, and David Rciardo do not? [...]

The economic crunch of the tightening oil supply seems in evidence in two major pieces of business news. One invovles Newell Rubbermaid’s cutting back on the types of plastics products.  The other involves General Motors’ decision not to pay out dividends to shareholders.
This is how change is going to happen. The more costly petroleum and [...]

It is a great thing that Americans are so interested in their Presidential election.  According to Pew, there is record engagement levels in this election.  However, I will not miss the writing in the form of “opinion columns” that we have to endure in election years, which somehow seem extra senseless when campaigns are at [...]

Matthew Yglesias wonders about expanding train service as a way to offset fuel consumption.  I have often wondered if this is not a great opportunity to test out some private/public partnership strategies.  If passenger rail became a viable option for lots of commuting Americans every day, it would seem beneficial to open up competition between [...]