Tim's post on the minimum wage reminds me of a proposal by Levis Kochin: Why not just set the minimum wage equal to the average wage? Think of the advantages of the reduced uncertainty.

"A Blood Test to Predict Death? It Could Be Possible"

I can predict it now even without a blood test

100%

Legal Theory Blog explains Judge Posner's "latest." (Hint: Note the date.)

Of 11 tenure/tenure-track faculty, 10 of us have our Ph.D.'s from tournament teams.

Faculty name followed by ph.d institution

1. Doris Cheng, Notre Dame
2. Colleen Haight (on leave), George Mason
3. Matt Holian, Ohio State
4. Jeffrey Hummel, texas university
5. Ed Lopez, George Mason (plus Texas A&M undergrad)
6. Tom Means, UCLA
7. Lydia Ortega, George Mason
8. Yeung-Nan Shieh, Texas A&M
9. Emily Skarbek, George Mason
10. Edward Peter Stringham (on leave), George Mason

The only exception above is my awesome colleague and office mate, Mike Pogodzinski (SUNY Stony Brook). Here is a complete list of our faculty.

Go GMU, TAMU, UCLA, t.u., Notre Dame, and OSU!!!

As we lawyers say, "res ipsa loquitur."

From the local fishwrapper:

A Silver Creek man was arrested Monday on a charge of tampering with evidence after he allegedly tried to hide a car involved in a wreck by covering it with dirt, reports stated.

According to the Floyd County Jail:

Thomas Raymond Vautour, 47, of 3113 Wax Road, left the scene of a wreck after he tried to force another car off the road at the intersection of Wax Road and Old Wax Road on Oct. 29.

He tried to hide the car by covering it in dirt behind his home.

Gary Clement on TSA.

Thanks to D. S., a loyal DOL reader from north of the border.

The Second World War and social media. Enjoy it here.

from a good friend who has started a new blog. A taste:

6. Thou shalt not covet thy roommate’s girlfriend. Breaking this one can only leave you unsatisfied with your own life and possibly cause you to miss the subtle invitations you are receiving from all the beautiful girls around you who are NOT in a relationship—but might want one with YOU. Additionally, breaking this one will guarantee failure should you get locked out of your dorm and need to appeal to your roommate for help.

ATSRTWT

Click here and hit the "like" button asap. Thanks!!!

This could very well be the perfect Onion News Network video. Teaching stats? Econ? Poli Sci? Torts? Mass Comm? It works on every level.

Truck Accident That Killed Rafters in Canyon Sparks Truck-Canyon-Rafter Reform Debate

Are risks being managed appropriately?

Here's Tom Woods on "Interview with a Zombie" to promote his new book Nullification.

If you ever use Google search - and who doesn't? - you might have noticed that most news links include the headline, and then the source. Thus a search for info on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan will get you a link to "Elena Kagan - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia."

And thus, a search yesterday for "Robert Byrd" turned up near the top of the page this link to coverage of the Senator's passing from one of America's most popular on-line news sources: "U.S. Senator Robert Byrd Dead at 92 - Yahoo!"

OK, ok, I'm a bad person. I still thought it was funny.

"Probably the only way I could be lower status is to be known as the guy who tried and failed to beat up Tyler Cowen."

Here. HT: Tyler Cowen.

From the comments section of a blog entry showing projections for Medicare and Social Security:

The average reporter has the observational skills of a yam.

More here

I should have mentioned earlier that the APEE program is amazing; it features addresses from Peter Boettke, Tyler Cowen, and Loren Lomasky in addition to a plenary panel featuring Yaron Brook, James Otteson, and Peter Boettke on "Ayn Rand Versus Adam Smith in Defense of Capitalism." As if that weren't enough, Penn and Teller will receive the Thomas Jefferson Award. Here's a clip from The West Wing that illustrates why--in my opinion--they deserve the award:

Here are Yoram Bauman's tour dates. If I could make it, I would go.

Okay - I can't help but laugh at the out-of-context clip of Sen. Reid on the Senate Floor discussing how 36,000 people lost their jobs and that is "good:"

Perhaps Harry Reid will be unseated this fall, perhaps not. However, the following clip is ready-made for his political opponent, whomever it might be: Just roll tape, rewind, repeat.

Link from Drudge - but funny nonetheless.

A little dated but still funny and germane:

Josh Hall, Pete Calcagno and I have a new paper. The abstract:

The terms objective and subjective are considered antonyms, and yet “objectivists”, associated with the ideas of Ayn Rand, and “subjectivists”, associated with the ideas of Ludwig von Mises, are both associated with the same political philosophy: classical liberalism. There are however important apparent differences between the “objectivist” approach of Rand and the “subjectivist” approach of Mises. Who is right? And which intellectual has the greater place in the classical liberal tradition? We propose to test these questions using data from a unique housing development in Charleston, South Carolina. We find objective evidence in favor of Mises’s subjectivism.

Before you Randroids start sending us e-mails, please take note of where we submitted the paper.

(or so I presume), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, according to The Hill, “No one likes raising revenue, and understandably so."

Via XKCD.

Warning: some salty language.

HT: Reason.TV.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."

--Seen on a bumper sticker in Memphis

Wow. “'All the cars and trucks and plants that have been in existence since the Industrial Revolution, spewing out carbon day-in and day-out, you’ll never convince me that’s a good thing for your children and the future of the planet,' [Graham] told a crowd in South Carolina,... ."

Graham thinks it would be a good thing if we had no cars and trucks, no electricity in amounts that could serve any purpose (and no serious means to construct hydroelectric plants in any case)? He thinks it would be better for us and our children if we lived as in 1800, when the average life expectancy was about 40 - if you survived childhood?

Wow.

Is there a better tribute to the King than Gary Busey's proclamation in the final minutes of the 1983 classic, D.C. Cab?

From the San Antonio Express-News:

Updated with photos: Man cut in fight over nachos.

A police report states a witness brought Henke nachos at the apartment in the 100 block of Lorita Street, but Henke said he didn't want them, so the witness gave them to Esckilsen. Soon afterwards, Henke changed his mind and asked for the nachos, according to the report. An argument ensued, and Esckilsen allegedly pulled out a knife, police said.

Rubber neckers click here.

A headline from the January 6, 1910 NYT:

CRANK ARRESTED AT CAPITOL.

Tried to see Sherman - Sanity to be inquired into.

Actually, the person in question had been "about Washington" for more than a year lobbying various politicians for "imagined rights."

"Any time Dennis Kucinich is the voice of reason, you know you're really screwed." HT: Steve Horwitz.

As I am reading for a long-overdue project, I came across this acronym:

USTFCCCA

Answer below the fold.

Finals week on campus is kinda like early morning airport security lines. Both are filled with people who apparently haven't been here in a while.

One of my favorite XKCD strips recounts one of my recurring nightmares. It's especially appropriate as final exams are almost upon us (NB: a bit of salty language).

Addendum: here's an offbeat take on B2B Christmas gifts from Jeff Tucker.

While talking to a community member about my decision to remove my children from the local public schools and send them to a private school a 30 minute drive away we had the following (roughly paraphrased) exchange.

Me: The academics at the school are great.

Me: Oh, you're defining a lot of lower-income folks as "diversity." If that's your definition, then yes, the new school is less diverse.

From Jack Beatty, Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900 (an interesting but uneven book), at page 338 of the paperback:

"The details of the nineteenth-century specie controversy repel curiosity; only obsession could make them interesting. And on that score, one does well to take James Garfield's warning to heart. 'He devoted himself almost exclusively to the study of the currency,' Garfield said of a colleague, 'became fully entangled with the theories of the subject and became insane.'"

No source is cited for this, although the book is generally well-sourced. I hope it's true.

From the Nov. 21, 1909 NYT (I know, this is a couple of days old):

Pot luck is too often potted luck.

The only people who really seem to enjoy living close to nature are those who don't have to.

If all the luxuries should be taxed, why not a tax on bachelors?

The trouble about hitching your wagon to a star is that you have got to get up before the sun rises.

A little piece on lateness, for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

From the Nov. 3, 1909 NYT:

Oscar De Rose of Belleville [NJ] is the owner of a chicken that has survived a fast of twenty-five days. The hen, a Plymouth Rock, was placed in the cellar of the De Rose home and was intended for dinner the next day. Its legs were tied. When Mrs. De Rose went to the cellar the next day to get the chicken, it was not to be found. She though it had been stolen.

Some days afterward while in the cellar Mr. De Rose heard a noise and decided that rats had begun to frequent the cellar. The house cat was kept in the cellar nights thereafter.

The noises, however, continued from day to day. Yesterday Mr. De Rose had occasion to go into the cellar, and hearing the same noises he searched around with a light until he came to a hole which had at one time been used as a cistern. At the bottom of the hole was the missing chicken. It was still alive and De Rose carried it upstairs. It was so weak that, when its legs were untied, it could not stand on them, and food and water had to be poured down its throat. To-day it was much improved and can walk.

When placed in the cellar the chicken weighed six pounds, and when it was taken out it weighed just a pound and a half.

So it won't be eaten just now.

Call me a killjoy, but I think that because this is not to my taste, no one else should be able to enjoy it.

-Marge Simpson on Ultimate Punching.

The October 13, 1909 NYT prints the following funny letter to the editor:

By an edict of Postmaster General Hitchcock cats are authorized to be provided food and lodging by all Post Offices of the first and second class. That is to say, each of the largest offices is entitled to an appropriation for the maintenance of is tutelary cat. In the present fiscal year it is estimated the department will spend $135 for cat meat.

But we think the appropriation is ridiculously below the actual cost of providing Post Office cats with the provender they need. Unless it is proposed to stint their rations as a means of encouraging them to prey on rats and mice, it would seem, from a superficial view, to be a piece of niggardly economy. But even then, as we reckon, there are in round numbers 6,000 Presidential offices, so that each would be entitled to only two and a quarter cents annually for cat meat.

Gauging the Post Office cat's appetite is a more delicate operation than assigning a limit to the political aspirant's greed, or measuring an office holder's capacity for emoluments. "The harmless, necessary cat," to borrow Shylock's phrase, should be well fed rather than starved to excite a predatory spirit, lest in its hunger and search for delicatessen it is driven to tamper with the mails.

But unless the cat can be taught to lick stamps for its customers, is it not apt to be regarded as a mere ornamental appanage of the Postal Service? Rats and mice that infest first and second class Post Offices can be as easily caught in traps. Would not excessive bills for cat meat form a convenient cover for fraud and peculation when accounts are rendered for official disbursement? But perish the thought.

Report: Growing Ranks Of Nouveau Poor Facing Discrimination From Old Poor

As always, The Onion nails it. This will have a page in Onionomics, which is my as-yet-undefined book on economics in the Onion that resides on my Someday/Maybe list and which I will write if no one beats me to the punch.

Mini Cooper dealers evidently have the following bumper sticker:

Nice.

From this report on thepredicted "benefits" of passing health care reform for the State of North Carolina (other states here). The report doesn't mention from which of the five pending bills the benefits were to be derived, so I suppose we are to take these predictions as being generic to all five bills? The site is a White House site, so it is not surprising that there is not one single negative aspect of health insurance/prepaid healthcare reform listed.

However, in the Status Quo section of the report on North Carolina was this gem:

17.2483498 percent of people in North Carolina are uninsured, and 70 percent of them are in families with at least one full-time worker.

In 2009, our fair state had around 9,397,397 folks so that means around 283,656.784 families of four are uninsured in NC.

{\sarcasm}
Does it mean anything to be "accurate" at the seventh decimal in the case of a percentage? {\sarcasm}

Found at IMGUR:

and another one

This one is making the rounds.

Story here

Personally, though, I prefer N = 1 so I can fit any slope I want.

Obama Drastically Scales Back Goals For America After Visiting Denny's

Check out more pix at uberpix.net!

From a link I followed from reddit

from XKCD. HT: Steve Horwitz.

I haven't done the confirmatory math but the visual lesson in this video is informative. I especially like the cluttered college dorm/apartment.

HT: Don Boudreaux.

Image made here.

The emails have been coming in hourly about George Mason's male homecoming queen. Here is a good story. The student, Ryan Allen, sounds like a fun person. Or should I say fun people? His female persona is Reann Ballslee, the newly crowned homecoming queen. From the story just linked.

The contest was half talent judging and half voting by the student body. Allen received the most votes but doesn't know how he scored in the talent competition, in which he performed in zebra-print pants and lip-synched to Britney Spears.

He said his drag queen persona is fairly popular and well-known on campus — he has hosted events as Reann for the school's Pride Week, as well as HIV charity shows and an amateur drag night cabaret.

"Reann is very sassy, very silly. She's an entertainer throughout. She's not afraid to do a high kick if that's what it takes," Allen said. "She's got a little camp but is not as campy as some queens."

You might catch some footage of Ryan -- and Reann -- tonight when George Mason travels to take on Creighton. Game is on ESPNU at 9:30 eastern time. GMU is 18-8 on the season and one game out of the conference lead.

His (and others') ideas in Bureaucracy have become manifest at the subatomic level:

Lawrence Livermore Laboratories has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from four days to four years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

HT: my dean.

Newsflash from Hammond, Indiana. This just in.

Boy's Tongue Stuck on Pole NBCChicago.com January 15, 2009

Remember what happened to Flick?

In the 1983 film "A Christmas Story," based in the 1940s, Flick, a friend of the young protagonist, Ralphie, gets his tongue stuck to a flag pole when he tries tasting the frozen metal.

Who would DO that? Well, apparently, Flick is not alone.

In Hammond, Ind., police were called to the scene of a similar crisis Tuesday night. A 10-year-old boy got his tongue stuck on a frozen street light.

The Field Elementary School fourth-grader managed to mumble to police that a friend had dared him to lick the fixture, and as the NW Indiana Times reported, "He must have been triple dared."

Ahem. I believe it was a triple dog dare that got Flick. BTW, you can buy leg lamps here. The fishnet nylons are genuine, and the leg lights up. They're "indescribably beautiful" and "remind of the Fourth of July."

The Jan. 9, 1909 NYT reports:

DALLAS, Texas - A corps of auditors from new York have for some time been checking up the accounts of all the State Departments at Austin. today they astonished Gov. Campbell and other State officials with the statement that the Texas Capitol building was in danger of being blown to pieces at any moment. They then called attention to the fact that all of the Texas National Guard ammunition under charge of the State's Adjutant General was stored in the basement of the Capitol.

They recommended that all these explosives be removed at once.

Or in this case, the real Sarah Palin:

Because the federal government has already committed itself to bailing out Wall Street, it will soon find itself obligated to bail out many of the ancillary enterprises that depend upon Wall Street for survival. One of these is sports franchises. The government will be forced to lease the skyboxes at stadiums that were previously occupied by brokerage houses, commercial banks and investment banking firms. This is not an eventuality that either Henry Paulson or Ben Bernanke had envisioned when they first floated the subject of a bailout. These guys just can't keep their eye on the ball.

One can readily imagine the hue and cry that will greet the announcement that the Treasury Department has taken over a dozen skyboxes at Arrowhead Stadium and another dozen at Coors Field. Yet the alternative is unacceptable. Without the cash generated by luxury boxes, numerous sports franchises will go under. This would further undermine the public's mood, particularly in smaller cities, where watching ice hockey is literally the only way to have fun on a cold Friday night in February.

That's Joe Queenan writing in the WSJ.

You've got to love bureaucracy, if only for the laughs. Libertarians like to mock government bureaucracy, but private bureaucracy can be just as intransigent and mind-numbing. The key thing about bureaucracy is that it always rolls on, a big, inpersonal machine that grinds all before it. And bureaucrats do what they are tasked to do, regardless of the circumstances.

Here, for example, is the last press release from Washington Mutual, issued September 24, as the company teetered on bankruptcy, one day before the buy-out by JP Morgan - Chase:

WaMu Recognized as Top Diverse Employer—Again
Company ranks in top ten of Hispanic Business’ Diversity Elite and earns perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index
SEATTLE, WA (September 24, 2008) – Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM), one of the nation’s leading banks for consumers and small businesses, has once again been recognized as a top employer by Hispanic Business magazine and the Human Rights Campaign.

Hispanic Business magazine recently ranked WaMu sixth in its annual Diversity Elite list, which names the top 60 companies for Hispanics. The company was honored specifically for its efforts to recruit Hispanic employees, reach out to Hispanic consumers and support Hispanic communities and organizations.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) civil rights organization, also awarded WaMu its second consecutive 100 percent score in the organization’s 2009 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures progress in attaining equal rights for GLBT employees and consumers. WaMu joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses that also received top marks in the annual survey. The CEI rated a total of 583 businesses on GLBT-related policies and practices, including non-discrimination policies and domestic partner benefits.

In both surveys, WaMu earned points for competitive diversity policies and programs, including the recently established Latino, African American and GLBT employee network groups, all of which have a corporate executive sponsor and champion.

“Diversity is an integral part of cultivating a welcoming, innovative and dynamic workplace here at WaMu. We are proud to be recognized for the opportunities and benefits we offer to all of our employees, including the specific efforts we have made to engage Hispanics and the GLBT community,” said Steve Rotella, WaMu president and COO. “We are committed to diversity at WaMu and pledge to listen to our customers and work closely with our employees to continue to make progress.”

You can't make this stuff up.

The full release is here. Hat tip to Mark Krikorian at The Corner .

Unbelievably funny video off of an Aussie senator discussing an oil spill. I'm told this is true [Update: but it's not], but it seems like an Abbott and Costello routine. Thanks to Pete for the pointer.

Some friends and I were looking at the Obama and McCain websites. You can personalize both; this text on BarackObama.com jumped out at us:

"Get Local! Create your MyBO Account (or login)"

Nothing yet on whether Old Spice has been contributing the Obama campaign.

Five amusing reports here.

Frank's adjective describing Hannity and Colmes made me swivel my chair to the bench where sits my Websters New Universal Unabridged Dictionary.

execrable, adj. 1. utterly detestable; abominable; abhorrent. 2. very bad: an execrable stage performance. [1350-1400 for earlier sense "expressing a curse"; 1480-90 for def. 1; ME < L ex(s)ecrabilis accursed, detestable. See EXECRATE, -ABLE] --execrableness, n. --execrably, adv.

Via Radley Balko, here is Rush playing "Tom Sawyer" on Rock Band.

The Onion outdoes itself (NB: salty language). It also teaches an important lesson about correlation and causality. So which is higher:

P(celebrated|alcoholism) or P(celebrated|great author)?

P(great author|alcoholism) or P(alcoholism|great author)?

P(John Updike Knows Who You Are|alcoholism) or P(John Updike Knows Who You Are|great author)?

I've read that great artists did their best work while sober. There's an economics lesson for the aspiring artist, here, as well: a steady regimen of pills, powders, needles, and bottles is likely to have a negative effect on artistic productivity. At the margin, aspiring great artists should reduce the amount of time they spend participating in all-night drug binges and increase the amount of time they spend practicing. Remember the misadventures of Towelie (NB: search results are PG-13 for drug humor): getting high creates more problems than it solves. And take it from Mr. Mackey: drugs are bad, m'kay.

A microscopic bowl of ramen noodles, which brings us ever closer to allowing the tiniest organisms to eat like graduate students (or junior faculty members, though a quick glance at my food drawer suggests that my ramen stash is at home). Nothing about whether the noodles are chicken, beef, or shrimp flavored.

HT: Jorge Cham.

If you're an academic (particularly if you're a grad student), you should read Jorge Cham's "Piled Higher and Deeper." It's like Dilbert for academia. The last several strips have been hilarious, particularly Cecilia's finding "that professors exist as probability density functions." I found this especially funny in light of the ongoing conversation between Tyler Cowen, Bryan Caplan, and Robin Hanson on assigning probabilities to beliefs. If I ever teach stats or econometrics, that comic is going on the syllabus.

I don't ever remember being told any of this when I worked in retail. Maybe if I'd worked in a grocery store...

While looking at my sister's pictures of her recent trip to London, I came across this excellent caption:

When sunglasses like these go out of style, I'll wish I'd taken them off in more pictures.

What are the barriers to an efficient Coasean bargain if my sister's present-day choice of eyewear is imposing an intertemporal "internality" on her future self? Does this imply that we need a real-life "fashion police?"

*-Marginal Revolution.

Here's a great idea for a party: foodstuffs that have been banned or heavily regulated in some places. Perhaps we'll have a fundraiser for the Elizabeth Palacios legal defense fund.

A funny bit from Reno 911 about my favorite game!

[HT: Josh]

I’m cleaning out documents that have accumulated on my USB drive, and I came across something short I scribbled down a few years ago while listening to “Broadway Spotlight” on KFUO-FM in Saint Louis. They were playing a Sondheim musical called Anyone Can Whistle that “missed” (they said it apparently spent a total of 9 days on Broadway). It contained a pretty good exchange on the nature of government. I can’t remember the characters’ names, so we’ll just call them “Bob” and “Joe.”

Bob: “you say anyone who makes something he doesn’t use is crazy, right? Where does most of your money go?”

Joe: “Taxes.”

Bob: “And what does the government do with it? They make bombs, which presumably they don’t use. So you’re using your money to make something you don’t use, so you’re crazy. Of course, maybe the government is going to use them and you’re paying to have yourself killed. You’re mad.”

Here's The Onion on a product to fit our sedentary, high-calorie American lifestyles. In light of recent findings on the relationship between fast food and obesity, I'm not sure this would actually contribute to the "obesity epidemic." Extra credit: watch the scrolling ticker at the bottom of the screen for an interesting question about the labor market.

New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

Mariah Carey's first pitch:

Not as bad as the Cincinnati Mayor's last year:

John McCain dishes it dry on "Saturday Night Live". Speaking out against porkbarrell spending, he says:

Most of these projects are at best unnecessary... [Such as] $160,000,000 to the Department of Defense for developing a device that can jam gaydar. [laughter] Now, I don't know if this is anti-gay or pro-gay or if such a device would even work. But I do know this. Jamming gaydar is not a federal responsibility. That's something best left to state and local governments.

From Hayek's Nobel lecture:

"We know...the general conditions in which what we call, somewhat misleadingly, an equilibrium will establish itself: but we never know what the particular prices or wages are which would exist if the market were to bring about such an equilibrium. We can merely say what the conditions are in which we can expect the market to establish prices and wages at which demand will equal supply. But we can never produce statistical information which would show how much the prevailing prices and wages deviate from those which would secure a continuous sale of the current supply of labour."

Here's Dilbert on a similar issue.

Applied research, I'm sure.

A Japanese civil servant has been demoted for viewing pornographic websites more than 780,000 times during office hours over a nine-month period. [...] Despite his frequent porn viewing, none of his colleagues noticed his activities.

The man's superiors discovered his extensive porn site visits after his computer became infected with a virus [...].

So, how can you tell when a bureaucrat is doing his/her work? Preliminarily, I'm guessing that this one wasn't.

Co-bloggers post poems;
Gotta appear productive.
But wait... I'm tenured!

Here's a Louisiana version:

Found state budget funds;
could give it to taxpayers.
Nah, need to buy votes.

Sunshine, liberty
No classes here in Indy
Baby on the way

Buildings vomit kids.
Blue books full, minds are empty.
Bluetiful flowers.

A great time sink! Visit the site and hit random to sample the comics.

HT: Kate.

Last night, Mike Hammock and I served pancakes at the semesterly pre-exams Pancake Study Break here at Rhodes. As one might expect when output isn't priced, there were periodic long lines and mismatches between quantity supplied and quantity demanded (particularly for the chocolate chip pancakes). I asked a student as he was coming through the line about the important economic lesson we were learning from this. His response was unexpected:

"You're working for free, so it looks like incentives don't matter."

... from Dave Barry:

For example, according to IRS Rev. Proc. 2006-50, certain individuals recognized by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission may deduct up to $10,000 for whaling expenses. Could this deduction apply to you? Think about it! I, personally, have done many things that I later could not remember; being a recognized Eskimo whaler would not be the weirdest of these. So go ahead! Find an empty box on your 1040 form and write ''Harpoons -- $9,990.'' (Don't claim the full $10,000, because that might arouse IRS suspicion.)

Also, if you are an ostrich rancher, you can claim the depreciation on your ostriches. The IRS doesn't give an exact amount, so let's say for the sake of argument that your ostriches have depreciated to the tune of $4,800, or, rounding off, $17,000. If the IRS questions this figure, explain that you had to start raising ostriches because you were unable to make ends meet with just the whaling. That way your story is basically airtight.

Read the whole thing here.

30

HT: Angus

Even though most of you will probably read this after the 1st. It includes these goodies:

"But Partridge’s ordeal was only beginning. It’s reported that he woke up the morning of his death to the sound of the church bell announcing his passing...

Partridge would frequently be stopped on the street for inquiries into how his widow was coping..."

The story could be used for a discussion on marketing, adaptive expectations, finite vs. infinite time horizons, etc.

Trust me, you'll definitely want to read to the end to find out who the prankster was.

HT: Mark Shea's blog.

Johnny Kelly on the P-Word.

HT: Michael Dolan.

Late this afternoon, I received a call from a textbook rep trying to pitching me principles texts for next year. Less than 30 minutes later I received the following email from him:

Professor,

Good Afternoon. I’m sorry I missed you today. I can’t wait to talk to you regarding your Economics courses for Fall. Please let me know how I can assist you in creating the course environment you desire.

[Publisher name redacted] has a variety of textbooks and levels to fit your needs.

Exhibit A:
February 12, 2008
"...increased spending is a result of long-term growth, not its cause..."

Exhibit B:
February 13, 2008
"Yes, consumer spending is 70 percent of GDP, but consumption is the result -- not the cause -- of economic growth. You can't consume what hasn't been produced."

As I'm waiting for the swelling of my head to subside (by the way, it's hard to keep your tongue in your cheek when your head is swelling), I'll just say that Stossel's column is, as usual, much more instructive and entertaining than is mine. And, as usual, I didn't say anything original anyway. Since the title of Stossel's article is "Stimulating Nonsense," the fact that I just posted this shows that the article title was prophetic.

[HT: Kate Sheehan]

From Reuters Oddly Enough series:

It's official: mail is slow as snails Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:06am EST

WARSAW (Reuters) - It's official. Postal delivery is as slow as snails, at least in Poland.

An IT worker, after receiving a letter on January 3 that was sent on December 20 as priority mail, calculated that a snail would have made it even faster to his home than the letter.

Daily Gazeta Wyborcza said Michal Szybalski calculated that it took 294 hours for the letter to arrive at his home. He also said the distance between his home and the sender was 11.1 kilometers.

Given the distance and the time, the speed of the letter was 0.03775 kilometers per hour. Szybalski calculated that a garden snail travels at around 0.048 kilometers per hour.

Story here.

Pour a little out for The King. Today is Elvis's 73rd birthday.

I cannot draw the line so starkly as Dell (Gary Busey) from the underrated 1983 comedy, "D.C. Cab," in which Dell proclaims in victory, "Okay but I don't work on January the 8th, cause that's Elvis's birthday." Alas, I am at work. (Can't you tell?)

Here is some mindless Elvis birthday trivia.

My favorite Velvet Elvis.

Weird Al Yankovic's tribute to Elvis velvets.

My, what you can find on the Internet in five minutes!

I got this New York Times article from social-networking-benefits-of-booze expert, Ed Stringham:

The Claim: A Little Alcohol Can Help you Beat a Cold

THE BOTTOM LINE: Alcohol will not help cure a cold, though moderate consumption may reduce susceptibility.

I'm in Western New York with family and most of us have colds. Not me, though..... Bartender!

... at least for the entitled:

As protesters gathered at colleges around the country to criticize federal budget cutbacks that would raise the price of subsidized birth control at student health services, one University of New Mexico student described the imminent horror to Albuquerque's KFRQ-TV: "(Students shouldn't) have to make a choice between their birth control and their cell phone bill or their birth control and their gym membership ..." [KRQE-TV, 11-12-07]

Debra Jackson said she likes shopping at the Dollar Palace, partly because "I don't have to get all dressed up like I'm going to Wal-Mart or something."

HT: EclectEcon

That's the three-letter airport code for Sioux City, Iowa.

Fun story, After decades-long fight, Iowa airport embraces unflattering identifier SUX - Metro

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - City leaders have scrapped plans to do away with the Sioux Gateway Airport's unflattering three-letter identifier - SUX - and instead have made it the centerpiece of the airport's new marketing campaign.

The code, used by pilots and airports worldwide and printed on tickets and luggage tags, will be used on T-shirts and caps sporting the airport's new slogan, "FLY SUX." It also forms the address of the airport's redesigned Web site - www.flysux.com.

Now if only I had a reason to go to Sioux City.....

HT: Sarah Skwire at Liberty Fund.

This, from the AP:

CHARLESTON, S.C. - A former economist pleaded guilty Friday for his role in swindling investors out of an estimated $90 million, which authorities said he used to purchase a half-dozen homes, swanky cars and jewel-encrusted pens.

Al Parish, 50, admitted to two counts of fraud and lying to investigators. He faces up to 45 years in prison.

Even economists, it appears, respond to incentives:

At a hearing in May, a psychiatrist testified that Parish suffered amnesia resulting from extreme stress, but she also said Parish's memory improved after he learned amnesia was not a defense to the criminal charges.

A news item:

A Californian man has been charged with using his false leg to smuggle three endangered iguanas from a nature reserve in Fiji to the United States.

Prosecutors say Jereme James stole the banded iguanas while on a visit to the South Pacific island in 2002.

He is alleged to have constructed a special compartment inside his prosthetic limb to move the reptiles.

Just for fun: Here's a tongue-in-check "example" of a negative feedback from ecoEnquirer.com, a site run by Roy Spencer. A good-natured article about the site is here.

[M]any people are now also having to deal with another sinister side effect of the extra CO2: plants are loving it. The extra plant "food" has caused a worldwide greening of the Earth, with vegetation sprouting to life in the spring weeks before it is supposed to. This unnatural disruption of Mother Nature's busy schedule has even caused some tropical species to expand their habitats poleward.

This worldwide greening has led to an unexpected problem for motorists in many countries. People are increasingly finding their cars, trucks, and SUVs covered in vegetation that has grown overnight into tangled masses that engulf their vehicles.

Heard on National Public Radio yesterday afternoon, during a sponsor’s blurb for an educational foundation: “We guide children to think outside the box.” Say what? If you’re guiding them, it can’t really be outside the box, can it? “No, no, Johnny, that’s not how to think outside the box. This is how to think outside the box!”

Seen on a store sign at the mall: “Every jean on sale.” Say what? Will you really sell me one jean?

Tyler v. Alex: A Guide to the Perplexed

The Penny Pyramid Project: Picture of completed version: 289,318 pennies.

It's from April 2006 but still cool.

Funny and interesting comments at digg.com

It's an old chestnut, but Kamerschen (not Kamerschen as it turns out; see update below) lays it out so nicely.

Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."

Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

Update: Frank pointed me to Greg Mankiw's site, which in turn links to Snopes.com. David Kamerschen has expressly denied authorship, which has yet to be determined.

Tim's post reminds me of a joke that I heard when I was an undergraduate: The Vatican is considering freezing holy water and selling it as Popesicles. Which goes to show that reporting people's actions is funnier than making up jokes.

Mike Lester of the RNT provides a nifty follow-up to my post yesterday:

"Personally, I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities. We didn't have to produce anything. You've never been out of college. You don't know what it is like out there. I've worked in the private sector. They expect results!"

- Dr. Raymond Stantz, a parapsychology professor played by Dan Aykroyd in the Ghostbusters movies.

[HT: OCPA]

Christopher Buckley offers a new screening test for the astronaut program.

HT: Craig Newmark

Mike Lester's cartoon is the better of the two, but this one from Chip Bok provides unsuspected context.

While visiting friends this weekend, my son watched A Christmas Story for the first time. When the movie was over he came downstairs and I asked him how the movie was. He said, "It was good. This guy got shot in the face." Without skipping a beat, my friend said, "What were you watching - the Dick Cheney story?"

Jacko stalked by wacko looking for a thriller

The 2006 Ig Nobel prizes will be awarded next Thursday, October 5.

Live webcast is promised starting at 7:20pm Eastern.

Finally, someone has captured the essence of the American economy - or at least the essence of the economic thinking of far too many Americans:

"[T]he Bush/Halliburton team [is] pulling out the stops to get the Republithugs back in office. Once the dirty deed is done we can expect heating oil prices to climb just when we need it the most. This will be followed in the spring by another “market driven” increase in the price of gas just as the summer driving season begins. It is an old game, drive prices higher just at the time when we need it the most and let them decline just when we don’t use it as much. These gyrations are just a way to tamp down our outrage enough to let them get away with it again next time and conveniently keep their profits down when elections are about to occur and our outrage might lead to change.

"Think I am wrong? When did we invade Iraq to seize their oil? March, just before driving season. Easy cover for jacking up oil prices wasn’t it? When will we invade Iran? Before May, I promise.

"It is no accident that elections are held in the fall. Long ago the oil companies figured out that the fall was not an especially profitable time for them due to low gasoline usage and relatively tame energy usage for heating and cooling. What better time to manipulate the market for lower energy costs?"

This is great satire precisely because it rings true - you can read rants that aren't all that different on left wing blog sites every day. Worth reading the whole thing.

Oh -- I would so love to do this when someone's cell phone goes off in my class.

[HT: Alex Padilla]

From the September 16, 1906 NYT:

Many a girl has lost a good friend by marrying him.

Liquor improves with age. The longer you keep it the better it is for you. Figure it out.

The minute a man accomplishes anything he is called a crank by those who have failed.

If you go about it right, a quarter will make as much noise dropping into the collection plate as a five-dollar gold piece.

Okay, libertarian professors, you claim to support capital formation. Let's see if you implement this in your classroom.

To entice you to click, of course you'll want a teaser quote:

"Now if only Apple could do this with girls."

Does money buy happiness? Maybe a better question is whether a system that allows productive activity to generate wealth generates happiness. Anyway, an article at NewScientist.com answers in the affirmative. Excerpt:

Large industrialised countries fared well in the new analysis, with the US and UK coming in at 23 and 41, respectively, out of 178 nations. This stands in contrast with the recently released "Happy Planet Index" from the New Economics Foundation think tank, which placed Columbia (sic) and Honduras high up.

How did the "Happy Planet Index" reach its (to me) unexpected conclusion? The HPI is computed as follows: