Some things catching my eye over the past few days:

1. A hopeful sign--a CNN poll finds:

Queried about their views on the role of government, 54 percent of the 1,013 adults polled said they thought it was trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Only 37 percent said they thought the government should do more to solve the country's problems.

2. Greg Mankiw's Pigou Club WSJ op-ed generated several letters in response. I'm skeptical of the Pigouvian approach (here) but I thought a few of the letters were unfair to Mankiw (see his response here). For example, a few writers wondered if Mankiw had noticed less congestion on the road. Perhaps it is difficult to notice less congestion, but there were gobs of stories on the web and in major media publications documenting people's move to mass transit (examples here and here), more fuel efficient vehicles, etc. Moreover, the effects should get larger over time.

3. Incentives apparently matter to uninsured drivers (I wonder if this will reduce Craig's insurance premiums for uninsured drivers):

Arlington recently adopted a towing policy for uninsured drivers.

To reclaim a vehicle towed for lack of insurance, a driver has to prove that liability insurance has been purchased, plus pay a $412 fine for no insurance, a $135 tow fee and a $20-a-day storage fee.

4. Also from the incentives matter department:

---David Figlio and Lawrence Kenny on teacher incentives and student performance

---Naci H. Mocan and R. Kaj Gittings on the death penalty

5. In an editorial on a proposed prohibition of nighttime garbage pickup, the Rome News-Tribune channels Ronald Coase:

Which came first, the business that needs garbage pickup on a daily basis or the nearby resident? For example, in a downtown now filling up with condo, loft and apartment dwellers practically every commercial enterprise came first. They didn’t cause the resulting problem. The arrival of their new neighbors did.