Category Archives: Politics

PRESIDENT GRANT, THE WRITER.

PRESIDENT GRANT, THE WRITER. Ta-Nahisi Coates had a recent article on the Atlantic site attacking the frequently-seen claim that Ulysses Grant’s MEMOIRS are good because Mark Twain helped write them. He quotes Aaron Lisec, one of the editors of Grant’s … Continue reading

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THE ENFORCEABILITY OF THE GREECE-EUROZONE AGREEMENT.

THE ENFORCEABILITY OF THE GREECE-EUROZONE AGREEMENT. This Guardian hourly report for February 16 on the Greece-Eurozone negotiations has an explicit statement of the problems I have been raising. It’s in the entry for 11:05 a.m. “Georgios Karatzaferis, head of the … Continue reading

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ENFORCING THE MAGNA CARTA.

ENFORCING THE MAGNA CARTA. The Magna Carta is well drafted, and one of the impressive aspects of the drafting is that the “contract” provides for a method of enforcement if King John were to breach the agreement. This wikipedia article … Continue reading

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TRYING TO ENFORCE A DEAL WITH A SOVEREIGN.

TRYING TO ENFORCE A DEAL WITH A SOVEREIGN. I posted here two weeks about the advantage that Greece has in the chicken game with the Eurozone. The spending and other economic reforms that Greece is being asked to make would … Continue reading

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ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT).

ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). Both Dick Weisfelder and Nick commented on my most recent post on concussions in football, each expressing the thought that people today are more concerned about injuries in sporting events than in the days of … Continue reading

Posted in History, Politics, Sports | 4 Comments

GREECE’S ADVANTAGE IN THE CHICKEN GAME.

GREECE’S ADVANTAGE IN THE CHICKEN GAME. One advantage that Greece has in the negotiations with respect to a possible Greek default is that Greece’s moves will not be required until after the deadline. The deadline for the funding from other … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Politics | 3 Comments

WINNING WITH FEWER VOTES—IOWA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.

WINNING WITH FEWER VOTES—IOWA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. It is bizarre that two small states have such a large role in choosing the major party candidates for President. Kids, the way that journalists have determined which candidates have “won” each in … Continue reading

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WHY SUNK COSTS SHOULD BE IGNORED.

WHY SUNK COSTS SHOULD BE IGNORED. Kids, you have probably encountered the the economic argument that it is a fallacy to take sunk costs into consideration in making a decision (“sunk costs” are defined in this wikipedia article as “retrospective … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, Economics, Politics, Sports | 2 Comments

PLAYING WITH MATCHES NEAR A GASOLINE TANK.

PLAYING WITH MATCHES NEAR A GASOLINE TANK. Here is a Guardian summary of events on Friday December 16 relating to the Eurozone crisis. If you scroll through you will see that it was a hectic day. At 5:50 p.m. Fitch … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History, Politics | 1 Comment

THE EUROZONE—A CHICKEN GAME WHERE EVERY MEMBER CAN BLOW IT UP?

THE EUROZONE—A CHICKEN GAME WHERE EVERY MEMBER CAN BLOW IT UP? I began a discussion of chicken games in connection with the debt ceiling negotiations (here is some of the discussion). Radek Sikorski, the Foreign Minister of Poland, gave a … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History, Politics | 1 Comment