29 | November | 2012

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Amazing illusion

Mark J. Perry | November 29, 2012, 8:38 pm

The amazing Taiwanese magician “Yif Magic” makes a huge loaf of French bread magically appear out of his hands, watch starting about 3:00.

Carpe Diem

Energy facts of the week: oil production highest since 1994, oil imports lowest since 1992, and oil jobs highest since 1988

Mark J. Perry | November 29, 2012, 3:20 pm

1. The Department of Energy released its weekly report today on U.S. crude oil production and reported that domestic oil output averaged 6.818 million barrels per day for the week ending November 23, which was the highest amount of domestically produced oil since the … read more >

Society and Culture

The bad news is that gentlemanly behavior makes people happy

Charles Murray | November 29, 2012, 3:06 pm

When social scientists discover something that increases life satisfaction for both sexes, shouldn’t they at least consider the possibility that they have come across something that is positive? read more >

Pethokoukis

A rather weak attack on NGDP targeting

James Pethokoukis | November 29, 2012, 2:53 pm

I find much value in the idea of the Federal Reserve adopting a nominal GDP target. It provides a rule-based system to guide monetary policy and an anchor to economic expectations. It might even allow monetary policy to be purely … read more >

Economics, U.S. Economy

Obama holding high-skilled immigrants hostage to comprehensive immigration reform

Marc Thiessen | November 29, 2012, 2:21 pm

The Hill reports: The Obama administration on Wednesday announced its opposition to an immigration bill by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) that is designed to boost the number of visas for foreign-born graduates with advanced technical degrees from U.S. universities, saying … read more >

Pethokoukis

How to turn Obamacare into FreeMarketcare in 4 (sort of) easy steps

James Pethokoukis | November 29, 2012, 1:18 pm

If you posit that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is here to stay, then what? One possibility for advocates of consumer-driven health reform is to embrace the health care reform law. Like, really embrace it. To the max. … read more >

Pethokoukis

Is $100 trillion in future entitlements debt really no biggie?

James Pethokoukis | November 29, 2012, 11:38 am

I think I can condense current left-of-center thinking about the national debt as follows: 1. It’s a long-term problem, not a today problem or a tomorrow problem or even a day after tomorrow problem. 2. And since it’s a long-term … read more >

Carpe Diem

More signs of a housing recovery: Rising pending home sales and lumber prices

Mark J. Perry | November 29, 2012, 11:33 am

1. Strongly beating the consensus expectation of a weak 1% increase, pending home sales increased in October by a whopping 5.2% compared to September, and by 13.2% compared to last October, bringing the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) to its highest level since March 2007. … read more >

Carpe Diem

Two videos on the fiscal cliff

Mark J. Perry | November 29, 2012, 11:05 am

1. In the video below, Donald Marron, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, outlines the tax increases that Americans in various income groups will face in 2013 if we go over the fiscal cliff . 2. In the WSJ video at this link, … read more >

Image credit: Fibonacci Blue (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Politics and Public Opinion, Polls

Shifting sands on government’s responsibility on health care

Andrew Rugg | November 29, 2012, 10:54 am

For the first time since Gallup began asking the question in 2000, a majority of Americans agree that it’s not the government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. What’s driving the change? There are several possible … read more >

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. […]
Could California Make a Comeback?
An unexpected glimmer of hope might cast a new light on the Golden State. […]