In Praise of Scrooge
Steven Landsburg has a wonderful piece in Slate, pointing out the generosity of saving real resources and freeing them up for others to use. I can't do it justice, so just read it!
Economics and the mid-life crisis have much in common:
Both dwell on foregone opportunities
C'est la vie; c'est la guerre; c'est la pomme de terre
. . . . . . . . . . . . . email: jpalmer at uwo dot ca
Staff at the clinic have blamed new rules which will allow donors to be identified from next April.It's interesting, isn't it, that potential donors do not wish to be traceable by their progeny. What is their concern? Future disruptions to their lives by offspring suddenly showing up? Future demands on their personal wealth?
"Marriage"? "Civil Union"? Much of the debate seems to be over whether it is appropriate to alter the definition of "marriage." There probably are economic ramifications, though, including such things as pension and benefit entitlements.The Liberal government will introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage when Parliament resumes sitting in January, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday.
In an opinion released earlier in the day, nine Supreme Court judges asked to review draft legislation extending marriage rights to gays and lesbians said such a move would be constitutional.
That legal opinion clears the way for the Liberal government to introduce a bill early in the new year.
"What we found was that the apple phenolics, which are naturally occurring antioxidants found in fresh apples, can protect nerve cells from neurotoxicity induced by oxidative stress."[Thanks to Ben for the pointer. As Ben points out, Cornell is a school well-known for its agricultural research, and there are numerous apple orchards in upstate NY]
...Almost subconsciously, those scientists-scholars-academics who have tried to look at the “big picture” have assumed that, other things being equal, persons want to be at liberty to make their own choices, to be free from coercion by others, including indirect coercion through means of persuasion. They have failed to emphasize sufficiently, and to examine the implications of, the fact that liberty carries with it responsibility. And it seems evident that many persons do not want to shoulder the final responsibility for their own actions. Many persons are, indeed, afraid to be free.I can understand this from another perspective. There are times I just don't want to be bothered searching for information or products. Life would be so much easier if I didn't have to worry about things, wouldn't it?
It's a scientific fact, or should be, that Christmas music can turn you into a fruitcake. It either sends you into a Pavlovian shopping trance, buying stupid things like the Robosapien, or, if you hear repeated Clockwork-Orange choruses of "Ring, Christmas Bells" drilling into your brain with that slasher-movie staccato, makes you feel as possessed with Christmas spirit as Norman Bates.
If revenues don't materialize as expected, teams with debt must sell off assets (players), cut costs (players' salaries), or raise prices (jacked-up tickets)[italics added].What?? Hold on, there!
But "racial profiling" is irrelevant. What is at issue is religious profiling. By definition--by Usama bin Ladin's own definition when he called on all Muslims to kill Americans wherever they can find them--Muslim terrorists must be Muslim. Because religious identity is not always apparent, however, national origin or ethnic heritage should be available as surrogates.Regular readers of The Econoclast know I'm concerned about any kind of murdering that is promoted by religious fundamentalism.
In the United States, 10 percent of the students were in one of the top two groups, less than half as many as in Canada.
Over all in reading, the top countries were Finland, South Korea, Canada and Australia. The United States finished 18th
Experiences, not possessions. Concerts and travel are remembered for longer than clothes and jewellery. The result is robust to different ages and groups, but tends to be strongest for high-income individuals. Here is the full story, here is another summary. Here is the original paper. The home page of Van Boven, one of the researchers, offers many interesting papers on human psychology.
Particularly striking are the high liberal ratings for the New York Times and CBS Evening News...
Yup. People respond to incentives, and if mainstream media are out of touch with their customer base, they won't remain mainstream for long."...if the political opinions of viewers, listeners, and readers are similar to those of their elected representatives, the political leanings of most of the media are far to the left of those of most of their customers. This mismatch suggests profit opportunities for conservative-oriented, or at least balanced, media outlets. Fox News is probably only the beginning. Maybe the next conservative entrant will be a recreated CBS News."