Last week Neil Cavuto — Fox News’ senior vice president and managing editor of business news as well as an on-air personality — ridiculed people calling for an increase in the minimum wage, in the course of it bringing up … Continue reading
I don’t normally pay attention to tabloid-style news, but this story appeals to one’s sense of comedy-drama. I should warn you that the account is a bit indelicate. According to news reports and official documents, back on July 11, Deputy … Continue reading
I’m an enthusiastic defender of author’s rights, including copyright, and I have no patience with excuses for piracy. At the same time, I’m also an enthusiastic fan of Creative Commons (a type of copyright licensing, not a rejection of copyright) … Continue reading
A few months ago the Department of Justice came under fire for snooping on two months’ worth of phone records concerning 20 phone lines, both office and personal, of five reporters and an editor. The action drew complaints for from … Continue reading
I’m (as usual) late getting around to this, but back in May Rob Wile at Business Insider produced a set of 31 charts detailing positive long-run trends. (Some of these overlap with Steven Pinker’s observations in The Better Angels of … Continue reading
You’ve probably heard about this charming and funny Cheerios commercial even if you haven’t yet seen it: And if you have heard about it, you’ve probably heard that it’s “controversial,” meaning that there are still enough benighted ninnies running loose … Continue reading
I got an email earlier today claiming to be from “service@paypal.com” and looking very plausible. It indicated that I had made a $150 watch purchase that I hadn’t actually made, and provided what appeared to be links to the PayPal … Continue reading
Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich explains why it makes sense to raise the minimum wage: Link: http://youtu.be/ct8CGJy9eF8 He didn’t even get around to pointing out that if the increase were based on productivity gains rather than just inflation, … Continue reading
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich gives a brief, straightforward explanation for why switching to chained CPI isn’t appropriate for Social Security cost-of-living adjustments: Link: http://youtu.be/fvXuANd2l80 (I’m not sure why some ninny thought the ticking kitchen timer sound effect was … Continue reading
Colbert reports on a recent furor in economics circles: a very influential paper in macroeconomics that turns out to be based on some significant errors. The paper concluded that a debt-to-GDP ratio greater than 90% drastically reduces economic growth, but … Continue reading