1. The US Open has an 18 hole playoff today. Earlier today I heard on sports talk radio that neither the US Women's Open nor the US Senior Open play 18 hole playoffs. I'm not going to take the time to google for Nielsen ratings but I bet higher tv ratings is the reason the men's tournament hasn't gotten rid of the 18 hole playoff. Another 18 holes of the men's tournament--especially if Tiger Woods is one of the players--can probably generate much more revenue than a Monday playoff for the senior or women's tournaments.

2. Also from my drive today--I heard this sentence from NPR's David Welna:

McCain is even proposing new tax cuts, with the biggest benefits going to the top one-tenth of 1 percent of households and little relief for the bottom three-fifths of taxpayers.

I suspect Welna means something more like the bottom three-fifths of wage earners or income earners. Since most of those folks don't have any tax liability already, what he's really bemoaning is McCain's unwillingness to confiscate earnings from some folks and transfer the tax proceeds to people who already pay little or no federal income taxes. (The table here shows that the bottom 50% of tax returns by AGI paid just over 3% of federal income taxes in 2005.)

3. Another example of gas prices and cross price elasticity of demand:

When the Segway Personal Transporter came out in 2001, inventor Dean Kamen said the self-balancing vehicles would revolutionize short-distance travel. At first, however, they appealed mostly to police, mall security crews and airport personnel.

With gas prices escalating, sales in the U.S. are growing. One Segway dealer identified as one of its top five in the U.S. — Riva Motorsports of Pompano Beach, Fla. — sold almost 200 in 2006, 250 in 2007 and 175 in the first five months of 2008, said Riva spokesman Matt Sermarini.

"Anything that seems to be economical on fuel or doesn't use fuel at all, people are definitely researching and buying," Sermarini said.

4. One for complements instead of substitutes:

Even comedians have gotten into the act, complaining that rising drink tabs meant fewer people coming to see them perform and pouring wine and liquor into a river in a mock restaging of the Boston Tea Party.

The 10 percent drink tax, in effect since January ...