We are a group of individuals in Washington DC who believe in many things, including, but no limited to, listening to Flight of the Conchords, playing jeopardy, and staying in Quadrant II. What are these things you ask? My best advice: sit back, read a little, and enjoy our musings on the world.
One view would say that this story is an example of how gov't spending creates jobs. I mean, the machine company had to hire employees to design and build the pizza maker. Thoose people, with the money that they get from their jobs, will go out and spend money on other things and so on and so forth. That's gotta stimulate the economy right? I wonder what's the multiplier effect of a pizza machines?
1. Oh, so that's what happens when the federal gov't gives a lot of money to banks to prevent "systemwide risk." My bad, I thought there'd be crazy unintended consequences that put the system at even more risk.
4. A random interest of mine is in comparing univeristy websites. These are four liberal arts college websites(here, here, here, here). Without looking at the names of each school and based solely on what the website looks like, which school would you go to or send your kid to? I'm sad to say that if I used this as a measurement tool for selecting schools, my school would be dead last. In the words of someone famous, "this is why we don't have nice stuff."
PS. Sorry not to have blogged more about my vacation. Don't worry, it's coming.
1. Interesting article on education and school unions at KIPP schools. What I find fascinating about the whole discussion is that it acts as if the only options are unionize or not unionize. For the 90% of the workforce that's not in unions, I've heard of this radical thing called, "Getting a different job that you like more." It's an odd concept, isn't it.
2. funny.
3. Unintended consequences of cutting off democratic processes. My favorite line is, “It wasn’t a problem of too much democracy,” said Larry Ottinger, president of the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest. “It was a problem of money corrupting politics.” If I were commenting for the article, I'm pretty sure I'd say, "It was a problem of too much money from government,” said Raph, president of the Center for No One Gives a Damn What I Think. “It was a problem of politics corrupting money (aka businesses) by offering more power and influence every time the government grew.”
So, in my random sightseeing tours of the internet via facebook and google reader, I see very different forms of debate going on. For the most part, it's very interesting. Though I tend to read people who I find at least somewhat ideologically aligned to myself, I pride myself on trying to read from authors who are not aligned with my own beliefs. At the same time, I cannot imagine ever posting to a discussion board like the ones on Youtube, Amazon, or any of a million other sites (Note: I said the same thing to myself about blogging). The reasons for my hesitance are both varied and pretty straightforward. First and foremost, it's really hard to have civil conversation about topics that go to the heart of peoples' worldview. Case in point, below are two videos.
If you care to look at the comments section, you get an even better perspective on what this argument really sounds like. Me, I really don't want to be part of anything that would resemble something like this, so I try to refrain from getting into these arguments and write a blog that approximately 10 people (seven of which are friends or family) read. Easy for me and it gives me a chance to get to my next point: the value of friends in debates.
I had a really good discussion with a friend of mine during the past couple days. The conversation involved a lot of back and forth, but involved a lot of good questions. During the dialogue, I recognized that 1) I'm getting a tiny bit better at making coherent arguments 2) Arguing with friends is both dangerous and probably a good thing. It forces you to leave the ad hominem attacks (you saw above) at the door and stick to the business of reasoning through some complex questions. At the same time, it's hard to not step on toes when you are getting into the thick of it. My friends and family tolerate me a great deal more than any person should rightfully expect and it's always appreciated.
Finally, to end on a positive note, I wanted to display what I consider to be a better kind of debate of substance on very similar issues. The posts to look for are by Brad Delong and Tyler Cowen. Both are good economists. Click to previous pages to see more posts. The posts are long, but are an example of what debate can look like on the internet.
P.S. - Hawaii continues to be awesome and I will post on it later today.
I've traveled back to Hawaii to meet up with a crew of my friends from my days in Teach For America. So far it has been less than 24 hours and I'm having a blast. Pictures will follow in the near future, but here are some quick indiscriminate observations about returning to the islands...
The weather here really is as nice as I remember it.
In Hawaii, driving in the left lane on the highway means going the speed limit.
Almost every house in Hawaii is a ranch house...ewwwwww.
My desire to consume news about the mainland grows based on my distance from it.
It's really great seeing old friends who are still here.
I love Jamba Juice and Macadamia nuts.
Delta has, on their long flights, personal video monitors with tv, games, music, and movies for free (in the sense that the cost is included in my ticket)
Hawaii has amazing hikes to go on.
Sleeping on couches really isn't that bad when you haven't slept in 24 hours.
I'm not an angry person, but certain things that happened while I was on this island make me want to punch a wall...and those feelings aren't gone a year later.
Waiting to hear back about job stuff is easier when you spend the day hiking a mountain and going to flea markets.
That's it for now. Stay tuned for more updates...all six of you.
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