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- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
- Dick Weisfelder: My prior comment was just in the context of sports. Whether or not from Pinker, I have seen the...
- erik: It seems doubtful that human nature has changed. The most likely explanation would be that modern culture gives...
- HOW BANKS PREPARED FOR A U.S. DEFAULT. (2)
- GREECE’S ADVANTAGE IN THE CHICKEN GAME. (2)
- Nick: That makes sense. It reminds me of the stories Pater Familias would tell me about how in Boston the person with...
- Dick Weisfelder: Greece seems to me to be playing a game that Karl Deutsch called “underdog.” While one...
- FOOTBALL PLAYERS DELIBERATELY CAUSING CONCUSSIONS? (3)
- Nick: It was my understanding that boxing gloves were to protect the puncher’s hands and not the...
- Dick Weisfelder: Remember the Roman arenas? Bare knuckled boxing? Such injuries were taken as natural and accepted in...
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This isn’t about football. Or even sportsmanship. Well, it is about sportsmanship. But what...
- A 25 % CHANCE OF A EURO DEFAULT? (1)
- Nick: The fact that this has gone on for so long is pretty perplexing. The Economist is referring back to articles it...
- DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PATIENT YOU ARE. (1)
- Dick Weisfelder: One can be very open to new technology, but also risk averse. The recent debates about how to...
- THE EUROZONE—A CHICKEN GAME WHERE EVERY MEMBER CAN BLOW IT UP? (1)
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This is not a matter of chicken. These are all turkeys.
- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
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Monthly Archives: December 2007
GREAT OPENING SENTENCES.
GREAT OPENING SENTENCES. The high school library asked the students for nominations for the best opening sentence of a book. Either Annalisa or Nick (we can’t remember which) nominated, “Marley was dead: to begin with.” I can’t think of a … Continue reading
Posted in Literature
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WAS THE INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE A BAD THING?
WAS THE INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE A BAD THING? Annalisa commented here about a book she was assigned in high school. ISHMAEL, by Daniel Quinn, deplores the transformation of hunter-gatherer societies by the invention of agriculture. Quinn deplores what he calls … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History
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WAS THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION BAD FOR THE POOR?
WAS THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION BAD FOR THE POOR? The debate about whether the Industrial Revolution was bad for the poor is still unresolved. It is an issue on which reasonable people differ. I have always surmised that the Industrial Revolution … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History
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FRENCH POLITICIANS: ABSTRACT NOUNS AND CLARITY.
FRENCH POLITICIANS: ABSTRACT NOUNS AND CLARITY. The Economist for December 15 says that one of the novelties of France under Nicholas Sarkozy is “the decline of the abstract noun.” The article claims that French leaders have always used lots of … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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REFEREEING IS PART OF THE NARRATIVE.
REFEREEING IS PART OF THE NARRATIVE. In addition to accountability (and providing economists with data), there is another reason for making a league’s evaluations of refereeing public. Like many fans, I watch a game because of the story. I watched … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Basketball, Economics, Football, Sports
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AN ECONOMIST CALLS FOR MAKING REFEREE EVALUATIONS PUBLIC.
AN ECONOMIST CALLS FOR MAKING REFEREE EVALUATIONS PUBLIC. I posted here arguing that referee ratings should be made public. I linked to a report by the Sun Belt Conference on the the refereeing of the 2006 Alamo Bowl which I … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Basketball, Economics, Football, Sports
2 Comments
ARE EXPERTS NO GOOD? (COMMENT)
ARE EXPERTS NO GOOD? (COMMENT) Nick and Dick Weisfelder expressed a skeptical view of the American voter here. I want to point out that there is some evidence that experts do no better than ordinary citizens in making predictions. This … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History, Politics
2 Comments
MEGAN MCARDLE ASKS: “HOW CAN MARKETS BE EFFICIENT IF PEOPLE ARE SUCH MORONS?”
MEGAN MCARDLE ASKS: “HOW CAN MARKETS BE EFFICIENT IF PEOPLE ARE SUCH MORONS?” Kids, I posted here on the theory of efficient markets in response to Annalisa’s comment that, “There appears to be a good deal of randomness as to … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Politics
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KIDNAPPING BY NORTH KOREA AND DIPLOMACY.
KIDNAPPING BY NORTH KOREA AND DIPLOMACY. As described in this wikipedia article, from 1977 to 1983, North Korea kidnapped Japanese citizens in Japan for the purpose of having them teach Japanese to North Korean spies. North Korea now admits to … Continue reading
Posted in History, Politics
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LOOKING BACK—MURDER IN LONDON AND DIPLOMACY.
LOOKING BACK—MURDER IN LONDON AND DIPLOMACY. I posted here a year ago asking whether the apparent murder in London of a Russian emigre would become an international incident despite the news report that ““All the while, diplomats scurried to prevent … Continue reading