Feb
8
2008

URLs du Jour

2008-02-08

  • Iowahawk goes to the car show. Quote:
    Tammi Jo loved this Nissan minivan concept, sort of a disco death star for intergalactic gangsta soccer moms.
    I'm not a car guy, but the Hawk can make anything worth reading.

  • Depressing post from Eli Lehrer at the OpenMarket.org blog:
    I'm at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and I'm discouraged. I'm a pro-life, pro-gay, pro-market, pro-gun conservative who hates terrorists and central planning with equal vigor.
    Hey, me too!
    In the past, going to CPAC has energized me. I've headed co-sponsorship efforts, served as an MC in general sessions, and appeared on panels. In the past, the conference has left me with the idea that a movement of freedom-loving Americans who respect tradition can really make a difference. Now, I feel like I'm watching a crackup in progress.
    Yeah. It's pretty grim out there.

  • Fortunately, there's always the option of spending the next few years in an alcoholic stupor. [You mean that's not how you've been spending the last few years?-ed. Shut up!] And Tim Harford notes there's a good way to do it on the cheap.
    Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have shown that a person's enjoyment of wine can be heightened if they are simply told that it is an expensive one.
    The only trick is, I guess, that someone else has to buy it and tell you it's expensive. (Tim also has other examples of this phenomenon.)

  • We had a bit of fun with John McCain's indecision as to whether he was ignorant about economics. Certainly Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton haven't been caught in that kind of inconsistency. But, as Greg Mankiw points out, both are sponsoring "comparable worth" bills in the Senate, and comments:
    I may be wrong, but I don't think many mainstream economists would defend this kind of legislation, regardless of party affiliation.
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Or so I've heard.