Yearly Archives: 2008

Links 5/26/08

To predict quakes, listen to the animals, China survivors say PhysOrg Carter: 10 minutes to change the world Guardian. The most interesting bit was the response to a question at the end. The Wars We Choose to Ignore David Carr, New York Times US Official: Cluster Bomb Ban Could Hurt ‘Cooperation’ and ‘Humanitarian Work’ Common […]

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"The Economist Has No Clothes"

I somehow missed this piece by Robert Nadeau in Scientific American when it came out earlier this year, and I thought it made for good Sunday/holiday reading. Nadeau’s criticisms are admittedly pretty broad and similar observations have been made elsewhere (although Nadeau does add some useful historical detail), and a short piece by a non-expert […]

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Links 5/25/08

Web users ‘getting more selfish’ BBC. The use of the word “selfish” is a bit weird, “demanding” seems more accurate. Fingerprint Registry in Housing Bill!!! OpenMarkets. In case you somehow missed it (and I was so gobsmacked I had to check the language in the bill myself). Section 605 (a): BACKGROUND CHECKS.—In connection with an […]

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Links and Quick Takes 5/24/08

Vast cracks appear in Arctic ice BBC Wolf whistle works, woman strips Reuters Earth would be very happy without humans Telegraph How the US dream foundered in Iraq MIchael Schwartz, Asia Times. If you have time for only one item, read this. A revealing, and not too long article, that gives a very different account […]

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Commodities Spike: Vote of No Confidence in Central Bankers?

Steve Waldman, in a colorful post, “A run on central banks?” contends that the rapid rise of commodities prices isn’t the result of mundane factors like negative real interest rates, but a more fundamental cause: loss of faith in the monetary authorities: Just as the fear of a bank’s insolvency can precipitate a run that […]

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So We Now Hear Renters Are Bad People (Own to Rent Edition)

Kevin Funnell at Bank Laywer’s Blog fulminates about an idea to deal with the burgeoning homeowner debt crisis, namely a proposal by House Representative Raúl M. Grijalva based on (but different in some key respects) from a Dean Baker proposal called “own to rent”. While there are problems with the idea, there is more than […]

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Links 5/23/08

Sharks swim closer to extinction BBC iPhone line forms at Apple’s flagship for absolutely no reason engadget U.S. corporations massively read employee e-mail Help Net Security Credit monopolies harm lenders and borrowers International Financial Law Review. Bobo7874 put a link to this article in comments yesterday, with this query: I would like to hear what […]

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LInks 5/22/08

Japan to probe whale meat ‘theft’ BBC. The fraud of Japanese whaling as research is being exposed. Willem Buiter wants to save the Icelandic whales. A Modest Glass of Wine Each Day Could Improve Liver Health PhysOrg How to Devalue Your Brand, Greg Mankiw Version Ken Houghton, Angry Bear The next (but not new) frontier […]

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