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

Framing the water futures

by rdan The world’s remaining accessible fresh-water supplies are divided among industry (20 percent), agriculture (70 percent), and domestic use (10 percent), according to the United Nations. Meanwhile, fresh-water consumption worldwide has more than doubled since World War II to nearly 4,000 cubic kilometers annually and set to rise another 25 percent by 2030, says […]

Mankiw and Wm. Randolph CBO report

Lifted from comments cactus style by Reader Stuart Levine continued from the post on Mankiw and corporate taxes here and here: Mankiw relies on “[A] 2006 study [by] the economist William C. Randolph of the Congressional Budget Office [who] estimated who wins and who loses from this tax. He concluded that ‘domestic labor bears slightly […]

PTSD and our military response

Reuters reports: Newly diagnosed cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among U.S. troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan surged 46.4 percent in 2007, bringing the five-year total to nearly 40,000, according to U.S. military data released on Tuesday. The statistics, released by the Army, showed the number of new PTSD cases formally diagnosed at U.S. military […]

Carbon cap and trade, good idea? Bad Idea?

Reader sammy sends George Will: Title: Carbon cap and trade, good idea? Bad Idea? Here is the “con” case from George Will via The Washington Post: An unprecedentedly radical government grab for control of the American economy will be debated this week when the Senate considers saving the planet by means of a cap-and-trade system […]

Economics as science? No chance. (by cactus)

Lifted directly from comments by cactus from the open thread: Economics is not a science. Physics wouldn’t be a science either if esteemed members of that profession who got prestigious jobs running the country were willing to make statements that contradict all known facts. But here’s the thing – if the administration’s position is that […]

De-fanging passive voice

An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me…It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride and superiority. The other wolf stands for […]

Traumatic Brain Injury: responses by DOD

GAO has a point of information. Pre-screening is essential for any medical diagnosis of “subtle” damage. Imaging pictures would make for a real comparison…external costs will be high. The late start up dates are a cause for sadness(inertia from various quarters), but the newness of this field of medicine is one mitigating factor. In response […]

Oil and oil addictions

The Economist poses some conjectures for oil and Iraq: …Things may be changing. Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, said in April that Iraq’s total reserves, could be as high as 350bn barrels, triple the 115bn that has been its officially stated level for many years. The figure is aspirational and should be treated carefully […]