These are things I find interesting. If you don't share my interests, please move along.
Esquire Theme by Matthew Buchanan
Social icons by Tim van Damme
28
Jan
…Republicans live in an intellectual bubble. They get their news from Fox and other captive media, they get their policy analysis from billionaire-financed right-wing think tanks, and they’re often blissfully unaware both of contrary evidence and of how their positions sound to outsiders.
03
Aug
How free is a person who must make decisions based on economic need rather than natural interest or desire?
02
Jun
In truth, poverty is an anomaly to rich people. It is very difficult to make out why people who want dinner do not ring the bell.
19
Apr
Scene: U of Chicago economics class taught by Milton Friedman. After a late night of studying, a student falls asleep in class. This sent Friedman into a tizzy and he came over and pounded on the desk, demanding an answer to a question he had just posed. The student, shaken but now awake says “I’m sorry Professor, I missed the question — but the answer is increase the money supply…”
(Source: ritholtz.com)
16
Apr
On Monday, Senate Republicans blocked a move to open debate on the proposal.
Mitt Romney paid 13.9% in income tax on $21.7 million in income in 2010. A single wage earner who earned $34,000 in 2010 was in the 25% income tax bracket. A married couple who earned $68,000 was in the 25% income tax bracket.
The system is broken and Republicans not only don’t want to fix it, they want to break it even more by offering tax cuts that will benefit the wealthy even more.
Fairness is here to stay in the public debate and, so far, conservatives are on the wrong side.
Today, Congress is voting on the Buffett Rule. What are your thoughts on fairness?
(Source: americanprogress.org)
14
Mar
Glad to see Ben Bernanke get some of the credit he deserves. Those who criticize him typically know nothing of monetary policy or do so for political gain.
10
Mar
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan used his SXSWedu keynote address earlier this week to advocate for more professional development and higher salaries for teachers. Duncan argued that teacher salaries should start at about $65,000 a year and range up to $150,000 a year for highly rated veterans.
That sounds good in theory—teachers work incredibly hard, staying at their school sites long after students have left the building, taking student work home, and planning lessons on the weekends. Many work second jobs over the summer and pay for professional development events out-of-pocket—of course they deserve to be compensated at the same level as other highly trained professionals. But considering the draconian budget cuts that have led to thousands of teacher layoffs nationwide, every teacher who hears Duncan’s suggested salaries has to be asking themselves where that money is supposed to come from.
» via GOOD
Show me the money!
Duncan, like all bad managers, has confused what motivates him for what motivates all. We have over 100 years of studies that confirm that money is a terrible long-term motivator, particularly for people whose basic financial needs have already been met. I would much rather see those extra billions spent helping students (better facilities, better access to technology, more Pell grants, etc.), but then again, I’m not a greedy capitalist monster.
07
Mar
The American free market rips off health care consumers at an alarming rate. Who benefits? Shareholders, capitalists, doctors, health care workers. Who suffers? Everyone else.
Will the Keystone XL pipeline go through Nebraska? If money talks, then Y-E-S.
Pro-pipeline TransCanada spent $12 in lobbying for every $1 spent by all anti-pipeline groups combined in the last three months of 2011.
Corruption. Greed. Politics. Capitalism. Sickening.
06
Mar
The American free market rips off health care consumers at an alarming rate. Who benefits? Shareholders, capitalists, doctors, health care workers. Who suffers? Everyone else.
05
Mar
Why does health care cost so much in the United States? Because consumers are getting ripped off.
28
Feb
1% of the population accounts for 25% of health care costs.
5% of the population accounts for 47.5% of health care costs.
50% of the population accounts for 3.1% of health care costs.
04
Feb
Things seem to be getting better.
27
Jan
From Manufacturing Economy in 1960 to Service Economy in 2010
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