Thomas Friedman is Right!
I just wanted to see if my computer could type those words. His assessment of the Waxman-Markey bill looks right on the money to me. It’s worth reading.
—Dean Baker
It is, actually. I know how Baker feels; I’ve done the same myself ( though I had to look back four years to find [...]
Steve Benen:
Deniers
National Review’s Victor Davis Hanson explained his rationale yesterday for denying evidence of global warming.
I just spent a few days in the Sierra in May during freezing cold temperatures and snow; a week ago it was quite cool and raining in New York; each time I have passed through Phoenix this spring it seemed [...]
The great thing about procrastinating is that, much more often than not, somebody else does it for you. Better than you can.
Better than I can, anyway.
Who Are You and What Have You Done with the Paul Krugman I Used to Know?
I would have thought it impossible for Krugman to cite Robert Reich completely approvingly, [...]
Via Brad DeLong. (Best Defense is Tom Ricks’ blog.)
CORRECTION: The other day this blog referred to right-wingers recklessly calling Obama weak for his careful handling of the Iranian crisis as “clowns.” In fact, they should have been called “dangerous clowns.” Best Defense regrets the error.
Felix Salmon points us to an entertaining takedown of Steve Forbes.
… And how does Caesar figure into the Finkelstein saga, exactly? Well, there was that whole flap over the inhouse Macy’s clothing brand, just for starters. Under Finkelstein’s power-mad reign, you see, Macy’s “began pushing its own private labels despite the fact that customers still [...]
In an interview with Ezra Klein, Atul Gawande discusses reaction to his article on disparate health care costs, and suggests a few simple things to help bring costs in line.
You’ve gotten some pushback on your article about McAllen, Texas. Today, in fact, some doctors from the area held a press conference rebutting your claims, and [...]
Paul Krugman, with a concise response to the idea that we shouldn’t be comparing health outcomes in other countries with our own.
Live long and prosper
Via Andrew Gelman, Greg Mankiw describes the use of international comparisons of life expectancy as part of the argument for reform as “schlocky.”
Grrr. Not many serious advocates of reform use the [...]
This is, um, interesting.
Dan Walters: Historic tax overhaul plan to hit Capitol
… The California Commission on the 21st Century Economy, better known as the Parsky Commission for its chairman, businessman Gerald Parsky, is on the verge of proposing a massive tax system overhaul to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators.
Although revenue-neutral – that is, not changing [...]
It’s a little hard to follow the news from Iran these days, let alone figure out what it all means. One way to do it is to follow Juan Cole’s reporting and commentary. Here’s this morning’s installment; you could do worse than subscribe to his blog.
Day of Mourning, Protests, Called by Mousavi on Thursday
[...]
I dunno; there’s an awful lot of competition for the title. Maybe.
Paul Krugman: Taking the Hypocritical Oath
I know it’s a tough competition, but this just might be the most hypocritical thing I’ve seen in the past year:
On Monday, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Pat Roberts (R-KS) introduced the “Preserving Access to Targeted, [...]
Well, maybe so, but this is an especially acute angle on the question. This is John Hinderaker writing at Power Line in August 2005. I forget how I got there.
It must be depressing to be Paul Krugman. No matter how well the economy performs, Krugman’s bitter vendetta against the Bush administration requires him to hunt [...]
The Flatlanders (Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, Butch Hancock) (isn’t that a fine photo?). Terry Allen, Tommy X Hancock. David Byrne(!).
A sweet documentary of the Lubbock-area music scene as exemplified by a bunch of fine musicians, every one a mensch. Great music making, and great movie making. You know I haven’t steered you wrong before; [...]
BETELGEUSE SHRINKS
Betelgeuse, one of the brightest stars visible to the naked eye, has shrunk in diameter by more than 15 percent since 1993.
…
In 1921, Betelgeuse became the first star for which astronomers measured a size. Over the years, different interferometers, observing Betelgeuse over a wide range of wavelengths, have recorded diameters for the star [...]
Ezra Klein continues his Health Care Reform for Beginners series this week with Health Care Reform for Beginners: The Many Flavors of the Public Plan and Health Reform for Beginners: The Difference Between Socialized Medicine, Single-Payer Health Care, and What We’ll Be Getting.
You’ll want to read them both, but here I want to focus on [...]
Fareed Zakaria interviewed Michael Lewis on GPS last Sunday. It’s one of the better takes on the underlying dysfunction of our financial system that I’ve heard.
Fareed sits down with author Michael Lewis to discuss the economic crisis. In his best-selling book “Liar’s Poker,” Lewis chronicles his days as a bond salesman at the investment [...]
It’s time for another Joe Stiglitz post!
America’s Socialism for the Rich: Corporate Welfarism
By Joseph Stiglitz
With all the talk of “green shoots” of economic recovery, America’s banks are pushing back on efforts to regulate them. While politicians talk about their commitment to regulatory reform to prevent a recurrence of the crisis, this is one area where [...]
Well, he reads some of what Pragmatos reads, anyway.
The NY Times reports that Obama has taken notice of the Atul Gawande’s article on regional health-care-cost disparities across the US.
President Obama recently summoned aides to the Oval Office to discuss a magazine article investigating why the border town of McAllen, Tex., was the country’s [...]
The Washington Post quotes SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor: “each time I see a split infinitive, an inconsistent tense structure or the unnecessary use of the passive voice, I blister.”
Have we established that split infinities are perfectly grammatical only to have them declared unconstitutional?
I’m looking forward to the ruling on distinguishing necessary from unnecessary uses of [...]
Glenn Greenwald.
Hillary Clinton demands China investigate and disclose its past abuses
On behalf of the Obama administration, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement this week regarding the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, and demanded that China do the following (h/t sysprog):
A China that has made enormous progress economically, and that is emerging [...]
This nice quote from Milton Friedman (in the context of overhauling the Federal Reserve, as it happens) was recently quoted in the context of health care reform, specifically in support of considering single-payer systems. I’d add democratic reforms such as proportional representation to the list.
… it is worth discussing radical changes, not in the expectation [...]