02 | July | 2012

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

CoreLogic Home Price Index Rises in May

Mark J. Perry | July 2, 2012, 8:19 pm

CoreLogic released its Home Price Index (HPI) report today for May, with the following positive news about the U.S. real estate market: “Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 2.0 percent in May 2012 compared … read more >

Carpe Diem

Busy Intersection: No Traffic Lights v. Traffic Lights

Mark J. Perry | July 2, 2012, 7:42 pm

The video above shows the same intersection in Auckland, New Zealand at the same time of day. The video on the left shows the traffic moving through the intersection without traffic signals following a power outage, and the video on … read more >

Pethokoukis

Obamacare will actually make health care more expensive, not less

James Pethokoukis | July 2, 2012, 3:12 pm

Avik Roy points out several ways in which the PPACA will make health care more expensive: – The individual mandate is actually too weak — meaning the tax/fine/penalty is too low vs. the cost of health insurance — to force … read more >

Politics and Public Opinion, Polls

Pew: Partisan polarization at greatest level since 1987

Henrik Temp | July 2, 2012, 3:02 pm

We are currently experiencing the largest gap between Republicans and Democrats—everyday Americans, not politicians—since 1987 read more >

Politics and Public Opinion, Polls

Polls: America evenly divided on SCOTUS’s Obamacare decision

Karlyn Bowman | July 2, 2012, 1:40 pm

Two new polls show opinion on the Supreme Court’s health care decision split down the middle. read more >

Pethokoukis

If Obama wants to move forward, how come he keeps trying to undo the Reagan Revolution?

James Pethokoukis | July 2, 2012, 1:38 pm

After the Supreme Court’s ruling on the health-care reform law, President Obama said the country needed to keeping moving “forward.” Obama: The highest court in the land has now spoken. What we won’t do, what the country can’t afford to … read more >

Dhobi Ghat open air laundry, Mumbai, India

Economics, Energy and the Environment

Energy costs strangling development in India

Kenneth P. Green | July 2, 2012, 1:15 pm

In many parts of the world, a lack of electricity is nothing novel; in fact, it’s the norm. In India, some 400 million Indians don’t have access to electricity. read more >

Economics, Pethokoukis, U.S. Economy

Now this is the mother of all housing bubbles

James Pethokoukis | July 2, 2012, 1:08 pm

Some stunning housing charts, via a new economic letter from the San Francisco Fed. The one at the top of this blog post plots real housing prices in the U.S. and Norway from 1890 to 2011. After peaking in 2006, U.S. … read more >

Carpe Diem

Markets in Everything: Cellphone Escape Services

Mark J. Perry | July 2, 2012, 12:55 pm

Trying to make an early exit from your 2-year cell phone contract without paying the $150-200 early termination fee? Now there are online cellular exchange websites that match cellular subscribers, a seller who wants to get out of a contract … read more >

Carpe Diem

Glenn Reynolds on the history and state of the blogosphere, the higher education bubble, etc.

Mark J. Perry | July 2, 2012, 12:47 pm

Watch Ed Driscoll’s Silicon Graffiti video interview with Glenn Reynolds on the history and state of the blogosphere, and the higher education bubble (featuring a “scary-ass” CD chart).

The Uses of Scandal
One of the greatest uses of scandal is to vividly demonstrate what new laws are needed and to create the political conditions to get them enacted. […]
Lean In… to Government?
Sheryl Sandberg's runaway best-selling book Lean In has managed to offend both the Left and the Right. Sandberg touts female hard-headedness, yet also calls for an elaborate government- and employer-supplied support system for women. […]
Are American Voters Racist?
Racial prejudice plays a very small role in American politics, but a highly disciplined sense of self-interest on the part of one group may play a very large role in the way the federal government functions. […]
The Perpetual Passion for Paper
Paper is becoming less important in some respects, but its strengths — prestige, utility, permanence, and security — are more essential than ever. […]