I have trouble imagining anything more excessive than this. Lindsay Beyerstein posts “Cops tase 82-year-old heart patient in bed“:

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I’ll post a few links to posts by the economists Brad Delong and Brad Sester. First, Brad Delong quotes David Leonhardt, who is arguing that the official inflation rate (in the U.S.) is still over-stating how much inflation is actually occuring (that is, Leonhardt is arguing that there is less inflation than the government reports): (more…)

A friend emailed me the link to this video, which depicts an incident that went down between some lions, crocodiles and wildebeests. It’s an interesting moment of conflict, and one can certainly watch it simply to observe the behavior of the animals, though, since my thoughts so often turn to politics, I was left thinking about Nature as a metaphor. Starting in the mid-1800s, those in favor of laissez-faire economics used Nature as a metaphor to explain the benefits of competiton. Herber Spencer came up with the phrase “survival of the fittest” to suggest a world in which progress resulted from the relentless struggle of all against all. The metaphor rested on an understanding of Nature as a place in which animals struggled against one another - alone, as individuals, without any kind of solidarity. But what happens to the metaphor if Nature is not like that? What if Nature is, in fact, full of solidarity? What if the conflict is tribe versus tribe, rather than individual versus individual? How does the metaphor change?

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I’ve been supporting Obama. My mom, Blanche, is a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton. Since Obama supporters seem to be over-represented in the non-McCain blogosphere, I asked my mom to write a post about why she favors Clinton. Here is what I was sent: (more…)

Brad Delong quotes Paul Krugman, regarding the effects of global trade. My own view is that we all tend to underestimate the importance of earlier periods of globalization. This is what Krugman has to say: (more…)

Since the early 1990s I have appreciated the (often hilarious) way Susie Bright makes fun of those prosecutors who focus their energy on porn. The newest trend in anti-pornography crusades suggests a breakthrough (so says Susie) in the way anti-pornographers view female orgasm: (more…)

Robert Hull is a friend of mine and he writes a terrific weblog focused on pop culture and the history of music over the last few decades (for instance, A Double History of the Supremes’ “Love Child”). Robert’s seen a fair amount of that history first-hand - he used to be an executive at Time Warner, in the music division, and before that he was a writer at Creem magazine. Robert doesn’t often write about politcal issues, yet, while reading over his recent posts, a very political question came into my head: why doesn’t the government do a better job defending the copyright of music? (Mind you, it’s a rhetorical question, as I’ve already got several possible answers in my head, but please add your own ideas in the comments.) For perspective, the current music scene needs to be contrasted against the way things used to be, a perspective which for me was sparked upon reading this history of K-Tel, an old article which quoted Robert and which he has recently reposted: (more…)

This graph shows the increase in income inequality that America has seen since the year 2000. The poorest 90% of the population have seen their real wages erode by 4%.

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Moveon.org… is running a competition for 30 second video ads for Obama. My friend Johnny St. Ours has an entry in the competition:

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This graph, which I saw over at Brad Delong’s website, shows the value of the dollar since the early 70s (when the dollar was first allowed to float). Its peak in the 1980s corresponds to a period of massive deindustrialization and high unemployment in the Rustbelt (America lost 2 million industrial jobs during the 1980s). It’s low point in 1995 corresponds to the beginning of the only period of the last 30 years during which real wages rose for most workers (1995-2000). This graph, more than most, suggests that a weak dollar might offer real benefits for most Americans, even if it (a weak dollar) causes quite a bit of pain on Wall Street.

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I saw this one over at Rodger Cadenhead’s weblog. It might be a stretch to think this belongs on Art Of The Possible, but the fellow helps me out by mentioning the Constitution and complaining about Social Security. I’m reminded of the humor of Steve Buscemi’s performance in the opening restaurant scene of Reservoir Dogs, when he refuses to leave a tip for the waitress. Cadenhead posts this one under the title “This One’s for the Ladies”, a title I can not compete with. (more…)

France is likely to enact a law to ban websites that encourage anorexia. If I was feeling cynical, I might suggest that there is a kind of cowardice in banning the sites, rather than addressing the social forces that might cause women to starve themselves to death. The law would be defensible in a “You can’t shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater” kind of way if it could be shown that banning these sites would actually save a life somewhere. As it stands, I have trouble believing this law will actually save lives. Also, how in the world can such a law be enforced? If a law such as this was passed in America, it would mean that all the pro-ana groups on MySpace and Facebook would be illegal. Who would be responsible for enforcement, the government or MySpace and Facebook? Would usernames such as “Ana is my sister” and “I love Ana” become illegal? Such a law would mean that the folks who started Ana Friends would face criminal charges. It would also raise tricky questions about who holds the responsibilty for the forums that users start on big websites. For instance, who would face criminal sanctions for the pro-anorexia forum on LiveJournal, LiveJournal, or the woman who started the forum?

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My friend Alex Marshall, in his newest post up on Governing magazine, asks “What’s up with groups that argue for less government but see publicly built highways as an expression of the free market?” Alex is highly critical of right-wing libertarians whose policy preferences are a simple Rorschach test of their own personal biases - people who label their preferences with the language of freedom, individualism and happiness, whereas any policy they dislike is labeled “socialism” or “tyranny”. Thus, if these people like to drive big cars, then any government action that supports their ability to drive big cars is a bold stroke for glorious emancipation, whereas any policy that interferes with their ability to drive big cars is a form of Stalinism so black that even Stalin himself would have thought it excessive. I encourage you to read the whole post. This is how it starts: (more…)

Brad Sester is grim:

I am referring to the fact that the credit extension the fueled the most recent boom didn’t generate any real income gains for most Americans. Times weren’t all that good for most Americans even before the credit bubble burst.

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Inc magazine is the bible of entrepreneurs in the U.S. When it was starting out in the 1980s, its readership was a monolithic Republican block. But now, everything has changed: (more…)

Business Week points to the data suggesting a recession may be on the horizon: (more…)

I recall in the 1990s there was a period when the media was full of fairly euphoric descriptions of the current era as one in which market forces were winning out over the state. The collapse of the Soviet Union, and the collapse of a world wide Communist movement, initiated a wave of triumphalist rhetoric about market economies. Those of a libertarian mindset thought they had something to celebrate. Nevertheless, despite the rhetoric, government agencies might be playing a bigger role in the process of globalization than ever before. Brad Sester explains: (more…)

The U.S. economy is increasingly run by government. But not necessarily the American government. Increased globalization means other countries have an increased desire to influence the direction of the American economy. This is especially true when it comes to the value of the dollar. Relatively poor emerging economies around the world are sending their money to the U.S. in an attempt to prop up the value of the dollar. As Brad Sester points out, foreign goverments also have an interest in proping the U.S. bank sector, partly to avoid the kind of economic depression in America that would impact their exports to America: (more…)

Nouriel Roubini argues that we are in the middle of the worst housing recession ever: (more…)

Here’s a story about a man who was carrying a gun legal under Virginia’s “open carry” law. Nevertheless, someone called 911 on him, and the police detained him: (more…)