Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

A new look for AB

Hi folks. I have the basic shell and template set up for AB, including our colors. I have the beginning link categories, a link in each, and the start of putting in more widgets. The corners will be fixed at the end of the process. There are “mistakes” in that I was inserting data to […]

Intelligent design-what to do? Whining does not cut it.

The Tax Foundation breaks down data as to who does not pay federal income taxes. I suggest that those who skim the surface of statistics about who pays not assume their point is made and a moral laid on the table by simply quoting 1% pays X. Age: While the zero-tax tax filers tend to […]

Generic drugs Part 1

The New England Journal of Medicine provides a look at the future of generics here: Today, generic drugs account for 63% of all U.S. prescriptions for drugs (see Figure 1). Since generic drugs sell at substantially lower prices than their brand-name counterparts, they save consumers and purchasers of prescription drugs tens of billions of dollars […]

What is this ownership mess? Who else pays the bills?

The foreclosure crisis for some cities like Cleveland is a tsunami of 16,000 homes. Some communities have a foreclosed house or two on every block. There a lot of links to other cities as well if you google. What I see that has not been discussed is what happens when the problem becomes large enough […]

OODA Loop applied?

The OODA Loop is described in short at the link. OODA Loop Theory [OODA is an acronym that stands for a rapid, repeated cycle of Orient, Observe, Decide, Act.] Go and read about the OODA Loop, and come to understand how he applied it to high-speed aerial combat, and then how he applied it to […]

State tort law and ‘what is the idealology’?

The American Constitutional Society has published a white paper about real action versus professed belief of administrative fiat. Transparency is not part of either. The Bush Administration has been quietly waging a campaign to dramatically reconfigure American tort law by claiming that routine regulatory action taken by federal agencies has the effect of preempting state […]

Some legislators saw the dilemma

Slate has an article on AARP designed legislation in Georgia. Under the Georgia Fair Lending Act, however, players in the secondary mortgage market could face serious liability if they so much as touched a predatory loan. The AARP, which drafted the model legislation that formed the basis for the Georgia law, explained that imposing liability […]

PTSD for kindergarten kids

Pediatrics also included a short description of work done in the field on treatments for children age 4-7. Nothing earth shaking, but a reminder of who else gets scared in theater, wherever that occurs. Adler Center for Research in Child Development and Psychopathology, Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel OBJECTIVE. The goal […]

Dirty statistics

Hat tip to Healthy Rivers, my favorite site to follow dirty statistics, offers a new public health tracking program locally to shed light on a problem that has been mostly ignored to date. I had a close friend here in Milwaukee who got really sick this summer from swimming in the lake while sailing after […]

BONDS AND MZM VELOCITY

I have a lot of theories about what caused the long wave in interest rates. Most center on inflation, but here is another interesting chart to make you think about it. One of the key relationship is that monetary velocity is inversely related to real interest ratesand that has been true for decades — including […]