Random Notes on Economics, Music, and Death–and a Bleg

  1. Excess Rents Datapoint of the Day: Since the NYT doesn’t pay Paul Krugman for his blog posts, why should reading those count as part of the “20 free articles” non-subscribers are allowed?
  2. I want the Grapelli track, but not enough to pay for a six-CD set.
  3. This—built by government employees—is the greatest accomplishment in music since Alan Lomax.
  4. And, for fun, via my buddy Tom, the best obituary you’ll read today.
  5. Bleg of the Day: Anyone have a good source or sources on the structures, organizations, and operations of the old “Tea Companies”? Have been thinking about bubbles, and Tea Companies seems to be the Goldman Sachs of the pre-20th century: always in the middle of the problems, but treated reverentially in the histories.

    And, in the Posts I Plan to Write Soon category:

  6. This book is making me wonder if we’re asking the wrong question. Maybe it’s not “Is Economics a Science,” but rather “Is Economics a Discipline.” More to come on this.