Tag Archives: Education

This article is kinda long and also along the lines of what I have done since the mid-seventies. I consulted in throughput for a while. Did not much like it as compared to actually doing it. It is a good piece though. This report is twenty years old and things have changed in China. Modernization has changed its cities and is having an impact outside of them. Been there and seen it multiple times over the years. However, the topic is different than...

For MLK Day: Blacks are faring better during the post-pandemic Boom than at almost any time in the previous 50+ years  – by New Deal democrat On this MLK Jr. national holiday, let’s take a look at how Blacks are faring in the current economy. And the answer is, pretty good! The unemployment rate for Blacks in December was the 2nd lowest ever in 50+ years of history, at 5.2%. The lowest was last April at 4.8%: The Black unemployment...

Some morning economics in the states trying to rein in costs. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves takes on a cut back on food for kids by not accepting a fully funded program. Tate looks like he could spare a few pounds except . . . Republican Governor Tate Reeves is declining to participate in the federal program giving electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to low-income families to supplement food costs for children when academic classes are...

“Academics and freedom of speech,” The one-handed economist, David Zetland The First Amendment of the US constitution reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The purpose of a constitution (ably explained...

Our current economic model, premised on profits and returns, consumption, and growth — on greed, has proven to be problematic for the environment, society, and governance.*   Over time, humans have inflicted grave damage to the land, forests, rivers, streams, and atmosphere. Some of this was in the interest of survival. A lot more was done in the interest of greed. Of late, we have done especially grave damage to the atmosphere by burning...

and we have no one to blame but ourselves. J. P. Jefferson suggested this opinion piece on December 19, 2023. I just ran across J. P. Jefferson’s recommendation again or for the first time, sigh. I just do not remember. I was able to sign into this WSJ Kevin Williamson piece even though I do not have a paid subscription. Sometimes and when you create a logon, they let you have so many freebies per month. Hoping you will subscribe to their...

Asymptosis » Economic Origin Stories and the State of the World, Steve Roth. Origin stories and creation myths pack a pretty hefty weight of import in human understandings of the world. Examples are too numerous to mention. What I’ve noticed in the field of economics is such origin stories are often taken (mistakenly) to fully explain the current state of affairs. I’m going to discuss two examples here. 1. Why Money Has Value. The “double...

Just an old commentary from 2006 as written by Mark Thoma when he was writing Economist’s View. If you don’t know, Mark discontinued his writing there and retired. I see him now and then (or used to) on Facebook. Here he gives a bit of history on Adam Smith. “The Many Faces of Adam Smith“ This column by Alan Krueger from 2001 is a reminder that Adam Smith was not a “narrow, unyielding defender of unfettered free enterprise”: The many faces...

Final COVID-19 update for 2023: mainly good news (at least on a comparative basis)  – by New Deal democrat Here is the status of the COVID-19 pandemic as of the end of 2023. It’s mainly “good news,” at least on the comparative scale. But as (now) per usual, we are in the midst of the Thanksgiving through New Year’s surge. Let me start with infections, which these days can only be inferred from wastewater sampling. Per Biobot, we currently...

On this day when we like to review the whacky, crazy crap that has happened, here is something that fits. Though, not from last year. It is easy to see how conspiracy develops when learning of such past. It’s not just the uneducated that create the nuttiness. It is not just the lack of knowledge that will lead oneself down the rabbit hole. We seem to have a knack for creating institutional lunacy from the application of deference. Add some...