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NYT seeks to assign "blame" for growth in "personal debt"

2008.07.19 Saturday 1:53 P GMT-05
A New York Times homepage animation today scares:In the United States, personal debt keeps growing.Who's to blame?Is growth in "personal debt" inherently problematic or troubling? I am not seeing why.  It could just be that more a
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Of interest only to the subculture

2008.06.13 Friday 11:30 P GMT-05
EconLog is now (already?) the #8 Google hit for "Oy gewalt".

Chicago Tribune: "Bible Belt" skirts Illinois

2008.06.01 Sunday 9:32 A GMT-05
Chicago Tribune reporter Ron Grossman today has a feature on "Holy Macaroni", a La Porte, Indiana church-slash-restaurant.  This establishment may lie geographically close to Chicago and Illinois, but Grossman uses the third paragraph
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Nuisance of the day

2008.05.28 Wednesday 12:34 P GMT-05
The gentleman answering the phone at Mr. Tire (f/k/a Craven Tire and Auto) just told me that, as the state of Virginia holds it illegal for anyone to make an advance appointment for state vehicle emissions testing, he would not make such an appointm

Did Indianapolis throw the black flag over Clinton's candidacy?

2008.05.10 Saturday 12:44 A GMT-05
After hearing so much about Lake County on Tuesday night, I want to shine a light on Marion County and my hometown of Indianapolis.  Lake County was supposed to be Obama territory, as it is just minutes from Obama's home on the South Side of
Category: Politics
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Terry McAuliffe is a joker

2008.05.06 Tuesday 2:57 P GMT-05
He just said on MSNBC that Hillary Clinton once trailed Barack Obama in Indiana by 15 points.  The RealClearPolitics archive of poll data (1) has no result in which Obama led by more than 5 points, (2) lists several more polls where Clinton led
Category: Politics

NYC "Rent Stabilization FAQ" written by someone with job security

2008.04.28 Monday 10:30 P GMT-05
The 'tude is practically dripping off my monitor: Is there a difference between RENT CONTROL and RENT STABILIZATION?Some of the people who email us say "rent controlled" but actually MEAN rent stabilized -- they do not know the differen
Category: Politics Business Linguistics

Unfortunately not taken from a macroeconomics lecture

2008.04.21 Monday 1:19 P GMT-05
The Big Problem is nothing more or less than the sum total of countless little everyday choices, most of them made by us (consumer spending represents 70 percent of our economy), and most of the rest of them made in the name of our needs and desires
Category: Economics Science Journalism

AFP on Christopher Columbus, sorcerer of the heavens

2008.02.19 Tuesday 2:03 A GMT-05
Yes, yes.  I know what they meant to say, but this is still a funny example of imprecise writing:Stranded on the coast of Jamaica, the explorers were running out of food and faced with increasingly hostile local inhabitants who were refusing to
Category: Journalism

How not to advance a political movement

2008.02.15 Friday 1:26 P GMT-05
Sudha Shenoy blogs at Liberty & Power:Let there be a Ron Paul write-in, in November. This will be a better & a permanent register of the true numbers of those who still hold to a genuine liberalism, one of tolerance & peace, of markets &

Not as bad as Rudy, but, still

2008.02.07 Thursday 12:04 A GMT-05
Assuming Ron Paul spends it all and doesn't win anything further, he's out $2 million per delegate.
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Prepare yourselves for Watercooler Monday

2008.02.03 Sunday 12:56 A GMT-05
Earlier today I was talking to the Fungster and I mused, "What do you call the Monday between Super Sunday and Super Tuesday?"  He quite brilliantly proposed "Watercooler Monday".   Unfortunately there probably isn'
Category: Politics Linguistics Culture

Also not a real headline

2008.01.21 Monday 2:26 A GMT-05
This one is not from CNN:  "Gender or race: White men voters face tough choices in S.C."
Category: Politics Journalism

"White Voters Deliver Nevada to Clinton"...

2008.01.19 Saturday 2:13 A GMT-05
...is not a headline from either of America's political newspapers of record.  The New York Times trumpets "Vote of Women Propels Clinton in Nevada Caucus" while the Washington Post's "The Trail" says "Gender Ga
Category: Politics Journalism

There is no anti-libertarian conspiracy of journalists

2008.01.17 Thursday 2:20 A GMT-05
Immediately following the blockquoted portion from my last post, John Derbyshire wrote: Expect things to get much worse if Paul polls well in Nevada, which looks possible.This is possibly true, but trivially so; contrary to Derbyshire's implicat
Category: Politics Shiny Object Theory Journalism
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They hate us because of our freedom philosophy

2008.01.17 Thursday 2:17 A GMT-05
John Derbyshire plays the ideology card: Yep, it's open season on Ron Paul all right. We can't have people going around talking about liberty, the Constitution, congressional declarations of war, and the abolition of federal government depart
Category: Politics
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The moral status of politicians

2008.01.12 Saturday 3:11 A GMT-05
Consider the butcher.  He spends a lot of time killing animals.  Do those who find this morally questionable tend to call butchers personally to account?  I've not heard of that -- though it may happen -- but I do know that many di
Category: Economics Politics Culture
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A bright side of Rudy

2008.01.10 Thursday 4:04 A GMT-05
I was talking to loyal P-Shock reader Eli today about the Presidential race, and he mentioned that he finds a good bit to like in Rudy Giuliani's economic plans -- and on further examination, I do too.  It's heartening to see that in his

AP's Pickler: Hillary Clinton's name is not "Senator Clinton"

2008.01.09 Wednesday 10:26 P GMT-05
Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press today manages to mischaracterize an Obama speech that was seen by millions two days ago and that is available on demand at YouTube.   Here's Pickler, emphasis is mine:Obama's advisers were so unprepa
Category: Politics Journalism

Maybe this is why younger women are supporting Obama

2008.01.09 Wednesday 5:51 A GMT-05
Barack Obama has been speechifying against They who are telling Americans what isn't possible.  Tonight I found one of Them: Gloria Steinem, who writes in what's annoyingly the most-emailed item at the New York Times:THE woman in questi
Category: Politics Culture
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Intrade Prediction Markets: Clinton now favorite for nomination

2008.01.08 Tuesday 6:09 A GMT-05
Uh, believe it.
Category: Politics Prediction Markets

On Ron Paul and dropping out: a minor revision

2008.01.08 Tuesday 6:07 A GMT-05
Several days ago I blogged that Ron Paul should drop out as soon as it is clear he cannot win the Republican nomination -- and that much, I certainly still believe.  However, I also wrote that for him to finish fourth or lower in New Hampshire
Category: Politics

Exploring my felt sympathy for Mitt Romney

2008.01.08 Tuesday 4:50 A GMT-05
[15:15] Jason: i have this bizarre sympathy for mitt romney[15:15] friend: lol[15:15] Jason: seriously[15:15] friend: i'm talking with a coworker about stuff right now[15:15] Jason: not sure why[15:15] friend: why for him?[15:15] Jason: yeah[15:1
Category: Economics Politics

Presidential candidate analogies

2008.01.08 Tuesday 2:18 A GMT-05
I heard someone on cable news today refer to Barack Obama as "Howard Dean 2.0".  The commentator's story was that Dean blazed a new possible trail to the White House, but he was a flawed candidate who could not measure up to the de
Category: Politics
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On America's Presidential nomination processes

2008.01.07 Monday 11:43 P GMT-05
Almost all of us do not live in Iowa and New Hampshire.  Many state political leaders have bemoaned the supposedly exaggerated influence of those states.  But before you jump on your own state politicians' PIMBY (Please, In My Back Yard
Category: Politics

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