VCU Bet Could Net Someone $50,000

From the AP. I think the real interesting item here is how rarely this happens at the sports books in Vegas. For all of the people who routinely take the long shot bet to win a championship, this is the closest someone has come to winning in years at the very least. Many of the people interviewed on this story can never recall a longshot of this magnitude paying off.

You know those crazy future bets on a long shot college basketball team to win the national championship nobody in their right mind ever makes? Well, someone made one of those bets on the VCU Rams before the start of this year’s college basketball action, and if the Rams end up winning the title, the sportsbook at the Las Vegas Hilton will be paying out over $50,000 in winnings to the lucky guy/girl.
According to the sportsbook, before the season started a person put a $10 bet on VCU to win the national title at 5,000 to 1 odds. If the Rams end up winning the whole thing, the bettor will win $50,000.
"We definitely have some liability associated with VCU winning the title," Hilton book manager Jay Kornegay told Covers.com. "I can't say I'm comfortable."
It could have been worse, though. At one point in the year VCU was listed at 9,999 to 1 to win the title at certain gambling locales. Then, when the tournament started and the Rams were one of the eight teams selected to participate in the first round play-in games, they were included with “the field” grouping which opened at 200 to 1.
"They probably would have been much higher like 400- or 500-1, if they weren't associated with the field" Kornegay said. "But because they were playing in the play-in game, we put them in the field. I mean we had them at 200-1 to win the region."
It’s a safe bet that the good people at the Las Vegas Hilton sportsbook will be watching the Rams’ next two games very closely, and that unlike most of America, they won’t be rooting for this Cinderella story team.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/las-vegas-hilton-recorded-10-bet-on-vcu-at-5000-to-1-odds

Mackinac Center- Non-partisan or not?

Please follow the link below to read an informative article from the NY Times on a recent request by the "non-partisan" Mackinac Center for Public Policy to make public the emails of labor studies professors at the University of Michigan, Michigan State, and Wayne State. As one professor puts it, these requests seem to be "an attempt to embarrass" labor studies professors who may or may not provide research that defends some labor groups within the state.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/education/30professors.html?src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

The real area of interest here appears to be the Mackinac Center itself. This organization's self-proclaimed purpose is the following:
"The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Michigan citizens by promoting sound solutions to state and local policy questions. The Mackinac Center assists policy makers, scholars, business people, the media and the public by providing objective analysis of Michigan issues. The goal of all Center reports, commentaries and educational programs is to equip Michigan citizens and other decision makers to better evaluate policy options."

With that being said, however, a review of its recent blog topics include the following titles:

• Rep. O'Brien says no tax hike behind transit bill
• 'TeaParty' scores against Obamacare in several states
• Gold Standard debate tonight at Northwood
• Another way to deal with illegal strikes

The group has also been behind several questionable studies regarding the compensation perks of public employees. Calling this group non-partisan defies logic and I would really be interested to know what special interests groups are behind its rise to prominence in conservative circles over the past several years. The fact that the areas of interest for the center's research on freedom of information requests center solely on union groups, state agencies, and public employees certainly seems to betray their academic/non-partisan claims.

http://www.mackinac.org/features/search/search.aspx?

NORTH DAKOTA OIL

For some time it seems like there has been much concern about oil or the lack there of. North Dakota has recently been giving us new hope that we may not need to depend on foreign oil as much. The link below explains. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703795004575087623756596514.html

AWW.... WHAT'S WRONG?

Below is a detailed article covering depression and clinical nutrition. The artical is a bit dated, however we have yet to advance much in this field making it still very relevant. I think we can all agree the less pills the better, yet owning pharmaceutical stock is never a bad idea. So what’s the best route to solving depression? Perhaps the best offense is a good defense.

http://www.newtreatments.org/Depression/ga/599/Nutritional%20Aspects%20of%20Depression

Too Bad Cars Can't Run On Clorox

HT: Big Picture

http://awesome.good.is/transparency/web/1103/gas-comparison/flat.html

Detroit: Silicon Valley East?

This is an interesting article on the recent demand for IT jobs in the Detroit area in the fields of cloud computing, mobile software applications, and energy management. This demand is a result of the recent recovery of the Detroit automakers as well as technological projects like electric cars, satellite radio, and the increased importance of computer applications in the automotive experience.

An interesting quote:
"Technology job postings in the Detroit area doubled last year, making it the fastest-expanding region in the country, according to Dice Holdings Inc. (DHX), a job-listing website. "

"Ford and General Motors Co. (GM) are rapidly hiring graduates from local universities as fast as they can -- there just aren’t enough of them.
“If we filled every opening that’s been posted or recruited just in the Lansing area, we’d be able to hire out all of our graduates three times over,” said Garth Motschenbacher, who helps place computer-science graduates at Michigan State University. About 70 percent of the school’s 54 students scheduled to graduate in May have jobs lined up, he said. “The number of students has not kept up with the opportunities.” "

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-24/detroit-outgrows-silicon-valley-in-tech-as-ford-binges-on-hires.html

Mapping America-Great Information

This is a fascinating application that allows you to view the census data by zip code. The picture below is of Detroit and you can see the dramatic racial divide in the city (blue dots =25 black people, green dots =25 white people). Please follow the link and play around with it. From the NY Times and Google

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer?ref=us

Drinking on the job back in fashion?

Apparently many Silicon Valley firms are providing employees with beer and other alcoholic beverages as a way to compensate for the long hours required for the job. They also use this to bring about a relaxed/creative work atmosphere.  While the idea in and of itself is interesting, the ipad app that they use to track who is drinking the beer also caught my eye.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-13/booze-makes-comeback-in-workplace-with-silicon-valley-twist.html

Pretty cool tribute from NASA

Great Earthquakes of the past 6 Years

Great graphic and post from "The Big Picture" blog. Of note is the following quote:

“What is clear is that for the 6.2 years since 2004, there have been more great earthquakes around the world than in any 6.2-year period throughout the 110-year history of seismic recordings.”
-Thorne Lay at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Should boys and girls be segregated in school?

The following is an interesting graphic from the WSJ that displays the similarities and differences between girls and boys brains at different ages. This is based on a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) study regarding differences in how boys and girls learn. The conclusions of this study have created a debate amongst education experts regarding whether it is better to segregate boys and girls in school, at least at a young age. Some highlights:

•  "Although boys' and girls' brains show differences around age 10, during puberty key parts of their brains become more similar, according to recent government research. And, rather than growing more slowly, boys' brains instead are simply developing differently. "
• "Dr. Sax, a physician and author of books on gender differences, worries that in kindergarten many boys aren't ready to learn to read the way it is usually taught—stressing sitting still and being quiet—and therefore may be turned off to school. "
• "Other education experts are concerned that single-sex curricula can reinforce gender stereotypes and don't mirror real-world circumstances. They also say scientific research doesn't support separate classrooms."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704355304576214904139134080.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

Is housing a good deal?

The following is an interesting chart on U.S. housing prices along with their five year moving average. The WSJ had an interesting article that housing may have reached a point that it has become attractive enough to overcome the $8,000 New Home Buyer Tax Credit. This chart is a pretty strong display that this may be the case.

Bloomberg

Taking the tricks away

It's good to see people taking steps to eliminate political gamesmanship.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-03-21-redistricting21_ST_N.htm

Army's Photo Controversy could be worse than Abu Ghraib

A disturbing controversy continues to grow asAfghanistan experienced riots in relation to recently leaked photographs of U.S. Soldiers celebrating trophy kills on civilians in Afghanistan. Not only is this action disgusting but it also throws into serious disarray the US's plans of gradually drawing down troop levels in the country.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51657.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/world/asia/22afghanistan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/20/2011-03-20_army_apologizes_after_der_spiegel_publishes_shocking_photos_of_soldiers_posing_w.html

Is this plane worth more than Austrailia?

This is a very interesting article from The Atlantic that highlights how out of control spending can become within the defense department. Some interesting points:

"Washington intends to buy 2,443, at a price tag of $382 billion.
Add in the $650 billion that the Government Accountability Office estimates is needed to operate and maintain the aircraft, and the total cost reaches a staggering $1 trillion.
In other words, we're spending more on this plane than Australia's entire GDP ($924 billion)."

"In January 2011, even Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a champion of the aircraft, voiced his frustration: "The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of restraint." "

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/03/the-f-35-a-weapon-that-costs-more-than-australia/72454/

Amazing Video of Earthquake and Liquefaction in Japan

HT: The Big Picture

Projected path of Nuclear Radiation

I encourage you to click the link below and take a look at the projected radiation path. Good information from the NY Times website.

Here is the disclaimer from the website: "A forecast by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization shows how weather patterns this week might disperse radiation from a continuous source in Fukushima, Japan. The forecast does not show actual levels of radiation, but it does allow the organization to estimate when different monitoring stations, marked with small dots, might be able to detect extremely low levels of radiation. Health and nuclear experts emphasize that any plume will be diluted as it travels and, at worst, would have extremely minor health consequences in the United States. "




/interactive/2011/03/16/science/plume-graphic.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/science/plume-graphic.html?ref=science

Operation: Guinness Rescue

Great piece from WSJ Food and Drink Blog about and operation to save/retrieve Guinness kegs in earthquake damaged New Zealand. New Zealand has a strong Irish heritage so I'm sure that there were many thankful Guinness customers on St. Pats!


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703818204576207012491767884.html

Japan Update, Monitoring the Leaks

Interesting graphic on radiation levels from the WSJ

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703818204576207012491767884.html

WHERE'S THE RAID?

Every now and then I find a reason to raise my fear of spiders and wasps. I think most can agree they can be annoying or even dangerous, but who knew some wasps have Charles Manson like mind control. The link below explains.

http://www.damninteresting.com/mind-controlling-wasps-and-zombie-spiders#more-17

Medicare Coverage by County

This a terrific map from the Healthcare Economist blog. It breaks down the percent of people uninsured by county as of 2006. The difference between red and blue states (both politically and on this graphic) is pretty striking.

More cool maps here:

http://healthcare-economist.com/2011/03/17/healthcare-maps-from-rac/#more-4945

How Much Does the Big Dance Cost?

As most of you know, today is the start of the NCAA tournament (I refuse to believe that the tourney started Tuesday with the play-in games). Here are some interesting estimates and tidbits for you to think about while you're at work today:

• Total amount of lost productivity in the US because of the NCAA tourney- $2 to 4 Billion
• Hours of lost productivity- 8.4 Million
• Number of Americans who consider themselves college basketball fans- 58 Million, 41% of the population
• Number of visitors to CBS's NCAA website: 8.3 Million
• Amount gambled on the NCAA tournament: $2.5 Billion

-
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=591153
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11809691/ns/business-forbescom/

Tax cuts in the future?

This is from an article in today's WSJ. Dave Camp (R. Mich.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has proposed cutting the U.S. Tax rate to 25% for individuals and corporations from the current max rate of 35%. This policy seems to conflict with recent Republican moves towards Fiscal responsibility as tax experts predict that this cut would reduce the revenue that the government receives from taxes by $2 Trillion over the next decade. This also represents a net tax decrease for corporations so the only way to make this policy deficit neutral would be to:

-Collect more taxes from individuals

-Reduce government spending by $2 Trillion over the next decade. This is extremely ambitious considering how many conflicts are arising from Republicans recent efforts to cut $60 Billion in spending for this year.

In my opinion, this proposal actually takes us further away from Fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget. Tax Revenues have never recovered to the levels that they were at before the Bush tax cuts of the early 2000s. With the deficit continuing to grow, the quickest and easiest way to reduce the deficit is to maximize revenue while pursuing cost savings. This obviously does not pursue that objective. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703899704576204971305258778.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

Visa to let people pay each other using credit/debit cards

From ABC news:

I've been waiting for this service to become available. I may never need to carry cash again.....

"Visa Inc. on Wednesday said it is creating a service to allow individuals to use their own Visa or a bank account to send money to a personal Visa debit, credit or prepaid card. Users also may bring cash to a participating bank to make a transfer.

Users also will be able to send money using a recipient's mobile phone number or e-mail address. In those cases, recipients will receive a message that someone is sending them money and then enter their own Visa account number to receive it."


http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13150739

New video of Japanese Tsunami

Is Medicaid really that evil?

I’ve linked a very popular article by Dr. Aaron Carroll, who is one of the most insightful sources on the Internet when it comes to health care reform. I strongly encourage anyone interested in a non-partisan, fact-based analysis of the current health care environment to follow his blog The Incidental Economist.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/15/carroll.medicaid.budget/index.html?iref=allsearch

http://theincidentaleconomist.com/

The area that I really want to focus on in this article is the comments that follow it up. The reason I want to address these comments is because they provide a great example of some of the flawed logic, anecdotal perspectives, and partisan viewpoints that steer the current health care debate. Some of the major errors in this healthcare discussion include:

-An overall lack of scope and scale within the health care discussion. For example, lawsuits and tort reform are often discussed as a potential source of health care savings in the U.S. While this may be true, most estimates of malpractice tort are in the $10-30 billion dollar range. Total health care costs are in excess of $2.5 Trillion, meaning that malpractice expenses only represent 1-2% of health care expenses. This lack of scale pops of often in healthcare debates when people talk about a million wasted here, or a million wasted there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to eliminate waste whenever possible, but we too often get sidetracked with the little stuff in this debate instead of addressing larger issues.

-Poor statistical analysis. Sound statistical analysis involves properly collecting Data and then progressing from Data to Information, Information to Facts, and Facts to Knowledge. All too often we do not follow an all-encompassing approach to the data that we gather on health care. This leads to statistical bias, ignoring relevant information, and generating assertions based on incomplete information/data. Politicians all too often ignore studies that don’t align with their pre-existing beliefs/biases. This is just bad science that prevents us from getting to the root of the issues.

-Opinions based on anecdotal information. While we all can think of examples of people “gaming the system” or abusing government programs, it is a stretch to apply these specific examples to all users of programs like Medicaid and Medicare in general. This is why using sound statistics is so important; it creates a more impartial method for conducting analysis on this issue.

-A lost sense of history in regards to the reasons why programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and health care reform in general were originally legislated. As Dr. Carroll mentions in his article, Medicaid provides insurance for the disabled, children, pregnant women, and people in extreme poverty. A lot of people like to blame programs like Medicaid (and Planned Parenthood for that matter), for letting women off the hook when it comes to paying for their pregnancy. They believe that having these programs encourages people to abuse the system. These people fail to realize that these problems were already in existence long before Medicaid or any other program came along. These programs were originated to address specific problems and, therefore, are not the original causes of said problems. Eliminating Medicaid will not stop poor people from getting sick or the need for uninsured women to receive healthcare during their pregnancy. Any argument to the contrary ignores our history and basic human nature.

Public and Private Workers: More similarities than differences

The image below is from an interesting study from the Economic Policy Institute titled "The Sad But True Story of Wages in America". The main thing that I take away from this article is that while private and public employees have been pitted against each other recently, there are far more serious economic issues that deserved to be studied in regards to wage stagnation.  Some interesting points from the study:

• The typical worker has had stagnating wages for a long time, despite enjoying some wage growth during the economic recovery of the late 1990s. While productivity grew 80% between 1979 and 2009, the hourly wage of the median worker grew by only 10.1%, with all of this wage growth occurring from 1996 to 2002, reflecting the strong economic recovery of the late 1990s.
http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/the_sad_but_true_story_of_wages_in_america

ATM fee's headed to $5 and higher

From the WSJ and Credit Union Times.

It appears that banks such as JP Morgan are looking to raise their ATM fees in order to recover some of the revenue that is lost due to regulations from the Dodd-Frank legislation on debit card and overdraft protection fees.  They are currently testing ATM fee's of $5 and higher for eventual rollout to all customers. 

I've included the 4th quarter financials for JPM to highlight the fact that a major contibutor to their $17 Billion in Net Income was of $51 Billion in Non-Interest Income, the majority of which comes from Commisions and Fees. Bottom line, I'm not really sure that I believe JPM's claim that the Dodd-Frank bill is crippling their ability to generate profits.

			31-Dec-10
			Final
Total Interest Income			$63,782.0
Interest and Fees On Loans			40,388.0
Interest Income On Fed Repos			1,786.0
Interest on Bank Deposits			345.0
Taxable Investment Income			9,715.0
Other Interest or Dividend Income			11,548.0
Miscellaneous Interest Income			541.0
Trading Account Interest			11,007.0
Total Interest Expense			12,781.0
Interest on Customer Deposits			3,424.0
Interest Expense on Fed Repos			-192.0
Other Interest Expense			9,549.0
Interest Expense on Debt			5,504.0
Other Borrowed Funds			4,045.0
Net Interest Income			51,001.0
Loan Loss Provision			16,639.0
Net Interest Inome After Loan Loss Prov			34,362.0
Non-Interest Income			51,693.0
Securities Gain			2,965.0
Trading Account Income			9,404.0
Trust Income, Commissions & Fees			35,790.0
Trust Income			6,128.0
Other Operating Income			3,534.0
Non-Interest Expense			61,196.0
Labor & Related Expense			28,124.0
Occupancy and Equipment Expenses			3,681.0
Misc Operating Expense			15,494.0
Other Expense			7,130.0
Advertising Expense			2,446.0
Unusual Expense			0.0
Other SG&A Expense			4,684.0
Other Commissions and Fees Paid			6,767.0
Pretax Income			24,859.0
Income Taxes			7,489.0
Consolidated Net Income			17,370.0
Net Income Before Extraordinaries			17,370.0

http://www.cutimes.com/2011/03/16/bank-atm-fees-headed-to-5

Japan Nuclear Update....

The International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday raised its evaluation of the Fukushima emergency to a Level Six – a notch above the 1979 Three Mile Island partial meltdown, but still two notches below the 1986 Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine, which ranked an eight on its scale.


Interest graphic/analysis from Al Jazeera English...

How much influence does the NRA have in your state?

This is part of an excellent series by the Washington Post on "The Hidden Life of Guns" that discusses the campaign contributions of the NRA in the 2010 elections. Also of note from the article:

"The National Rifle Association spent $6.7 million in this year's midterm elections, with 98 percent benefiting Republican candidates. A powerhouse in elections, the NRA has spent nearly $75 million on campaigns in the past 20 years. Lawmakers have come to fear the group's motivated 4 million members, many of whom make gun rights a deciding factor in their vote."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/guns/nra-endorsements-campaign-spending/

How a Nuclear Reactor Melts Down-Interactive Graphic

This is a very interesting interactive graphic that explains what is happening in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station (from NY Times). The situation continues to get worse there with an additional explosion earlier today.

“We are on the brink. We are now facing the worst-case scenario,” said Hiroaki Koide, a senior reactor engineering specialist at the Research Reactor Institute of Kyoto University. “We can assume that the containment vessel at Reactor No. 2 is already breached. If there is heavy melting inside the reactor, large amounts of radiation will most definitely be released.”



http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/12/world/asia/the-explosion-at-the-japanese-reactor.html?ref=asia

From the Big Picture, Defense Spending Waste over $1.3 Trillion

Thanks to "The Big Picture" Blog
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/13opchartimg-popup-v2.jpg

Another sign that the financial industry has legislators in their back pocket

The article linked below discusses the fact that a couple of Republican House members who are pushing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to review whether the costs they expect to impose on derivatives trades will be too high when they implement new regulations this year. Now, while derivatives trading isn't the most easily understandable or exciting subject matter to talk about, it is an area of the financial markets that was responsible for some of the biggest disasters of the recent financial crisis. They contributed heavily to bringing down companies like Lehman Brothers and AIG. The Dodd-Frank law looked to address this fairly unregulated part of the market in order to avoid a repeat of this disastrous trading. Now, I have to ask, why would these house members (in addition to several Republican Senators) push so hard to leave this market unregulated? My guess is that if you look at campaign donations and lobbying dollars spent by the major investment banks (aka Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley), companies that make billions in derivatives trading, you will have your answer. This is a shame because this is a market that desperately needs some form of monitoring/regulation. We've already learned that it is suicidal to leave regulation up to the banks themselves, I just wish these lawmakers could look past the lobbying money to see this.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-financial-regulation-cftc-idUSTRE72D1MN20110314

Daylight Savings Time health risk

I know I'll feel worse off Sunday.

"An Australian study study published in 2008 in Sleep and Biological Rhythms found that men were more likely to commit suicide during the first few weeks of Daylight Saving Time (DST) than at any other time during the year.
Another 2008 study, published by Swedish researchers in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the number of serious heart attacks jumps 6% to 10% on the first three workdays after DST begins.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/12/is-daylight-saving-time-bad-for-your-health/#ixzz1GP9UpPpk"

http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/12/is-daylight-saving-time-bad-for-your-health/

Antibiotic Resistance and hand soap

I'm sure this will fire up one of our future blog contributors. Let me know what you think. From REP. ED MARKEY & REP. LOUISE M. SLAUGHTER on Politico.

Here's a quote:

"Studies also have pointed to the ability of triclosan to contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance, a looming public health crisis. As companies saturate the marketplace with products that make fabricated claims of flu-free homes, consumers — especially parents — need to know that many products are not only ineffective but they may also be dangerous."


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51043.html#ixzz1GIpVDhJh

I may have to try this, tablet for $200?

The urgency of attacking the budget

I'm attaching a good blog post from Tyler Cowen, one of my favorite economists. As almost always with his theories, I'm not in complete agreement but what I want to highlight is the following:

"The time for a Grand Fiscal Bargain is now.  If we don't do it fairly soon, we won't get spending under control at all.  Furthermore the number and percentage of elderly voters will only increase, which will make spending cuts more difficult as time passes."

I couldn't agree more with the urgency. It pains me to see that we haven't gotten past political gamesmanship on this issue. We have wonderful resources when it comes to balancing the budget. Some of the best economists in the world work at our universities. Some of our government agencies have displayed terrific outside of the box thinking as we fought through the financial crisis. Some of the most inventive software companies could assist in streamlining our government operations. While there are several different ideologies involved in this process, we are at a point where there is enough common ground to tackle.  We should be making significant strides now. Look at the bipartisan deficit reduction commission, there were several terrific ideas and recommendations that came out FOUR MONTHS AGO and yet we still haven't pushed any of these recommendations for legislation.

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/03/from-the-comments-what-does-the-endgame-look-like.html

The farce that is gun control

One thing that I hope to adhere to in this blog is to maintain the middle road as much as reason allows for all political/economic discussions. With that being said, however, I simply can't understand the logic (or lack thereof) that exists in recent gun debates. How on earth did we get to a point where our response to the tragic shootings in Arizona, Virginia Tech, and Fort Hood is to push for more people to have easier access to weapons? Why do we approach such and important subject using anecdotal stories and reasoning that involves the fact that guns allow people to protect themselves better? Why can't we have an open/educated discussion regarding whether increased access to guns does indeed lower crime and risk for a gun owner? (perhaps because most academic studies show that gun ownership actually increases the risk to the owner?)

Here is a great quote from the article:
"Brodeur’s is one of many, many gun bills floating around state legislatures these days. Virtually all of them seem to be based on the proposition that one of the really big problems we have in this country is a lack of weaponry."

And another:
"Which they really aren’t. The gun lobby will never be happy, unless the health care law specifically requires every American to have a pistol on his or her person at all times."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/opinion/10collins.html?hp

Chinese Bride Competition drives higher savings rate

The social and economic (and social economic?) developments in China continue to amaze. ...

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/03/09/competition-for-brides-fuels-high-china-savings/

Competition for Brides Fuels High China Savings

One prescription for addressing China’s trade imbalance with the U.S. is to persuade the country’s tiger moms to loosen their purse strings.
Shang-Jin Wei, director of the Chazen Institute and a professor at Columbia Business School, said Wednesday that China’s demographic situation — 1.15 pre-marital-age men for every one woman — is the fundamental factor behind the nation’s high savings rate.

Economics and Politics-mistakes made all around

The following links are from Tyler Cowen's terrific Marginal Revolution blog in which he discusses common mistakes made by left-wing and right-wing economists. While I agree with many of the points on the list, I have to say that "sins of omission" is definitely a bipartisan trait. Points of interest include:

-The left's unwillingness to discuss how costly climate change could be. I defer to the "superfreakonomics" crowd on this point which is why we must have an open mind when it comes to possible solutions to climate control.

-The right's blind adherence to the fact that low taxes lead to stronger economic growth. This is one of the most dangerous beliefs in politics/economics today. The fact that tax increases have been take off of the table in recent discussions on defecit reductions continues to blow my mind.

Common Mistakes of Right-leaning Economists
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/03/fallacies-committed-by-right-wing-and-market-oriented-economists.html

Common Mistakes of Left-leaning Economists
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/03/in-which-ways-do-left-wing-economists-deny-or-refuse-to-recognize-science.html

This is a great graphic which displays what people think programs cost versus what they actually do

Shocked, shocked I am!

I'm forwarding this post from "The Incidental Economist" which is by far one of the best websites to visit if you're interested in impartial analysis on health care in the US


Shocked, shocked I am!

Alarming Debt Burden in........China?

This is an interesting article in today's WSJ about the internal debt burden that China is experiencing. Lost in the shuffle of all of the fears and hysterics regarding China's holdings of U.S. Treasury debt is the fact that the Chinese still have many economic problems of their own to contend with, including poor bank lending procedures, overdeveloped "ghost cities", and rising inflation. I'm not saying that China won't be able to manage these problems, but we should avoid comparing the Chinese/US economies with a "grass is greener" mindset.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703883504576186252054344030.html

Bounceback for Buick?

From the Kicking Tires blog. As a former Buick owner and a huge fan of the Lacrosse and Regal, I'm glad to see this.
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/03/buick-sales-soar-past-lexus.html

Pop quiz: what percentage of American's own a passport?

My guess was that no more than 20% of americans owned a passport, looks like I was a little off...unless I lived in Mississippi

http://blog.cgpgrey.com/how-many-americans-have-a-passport-the-percentages-state-by-state/

Republican Health Care? Still Waiting....

This is a great post from Ezra Klein, I'm still anxiously awaiting a policy platform from the republican party. They've made great strides by attacking anything that the Obama administration has proposed over the past two years (even when those proposals have extensively incorporated conservative ideas), now its time to see if they can generate their own platform....easier said than done I think.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/03/no_republicans_dont_have_a_hea.html