With apologies to Stan Collender’s Beautiful and Talented Wife (not to mention mine): James had gathered a mix of friends, acquaintances, and random strangers at his Rent Party, but no one was talking to anyone else. So he decided to get people to talk to each other, using the easiest non-visible variable available: “Don, what’s […]

Christopher Dodd ruins his reputation: Go read about [SOPA and PIPA], if you haven’t, because it’s pretty insidious stuff, not just because of the governmental control, but because of the corporate power behind it…. Former Senator Chris Dodd, now head of the Motion Picture Association of America (motto: “You can only be our leader if […]

By general consensus, Japan’s “Lost Decade” (now in its Third Decade) begins in 1989. The biggest growth difference appears to come from the U.S. period from the Second (1996) Clinton Tax Reform to the 2001 recession—a big if, I grant you, but one that the Gingrich/DeLay-led Republican Party predicted would produce mayhem, and the alternative-history […]

The good doctor quotes the Paper of Record: Garages near Yankee Stadium, built over the objections of Bronx neighbors appalled at losing parkland for yet more parking lots, turn out never to be more than 60 percent full, even on game days. The city has lost public space, the developers have lost a fortune. and […]

Here I thought I was fed up with the Empty Suit in the White House: What it says to me is all that matters is Obama’s reelection (see, for example, the pivot to deficit reduction) — when the timing’s right for that, things will happen — but don’t keep your fingers crossed otherwise. If you […]

I’m still in catch-up mode, but I keep coming back to this presentation (PDF)—four times now. It’s a speech by BoJ member Masaaki Shirakawa in Tokyo on the 22nd of December last year to the Board of Councillors of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), entitled “Globalization and population aging – challenges facing Japan.” Go through […]

I go away for a week and the world collapses. While most of you probably noticed that Russell Brand is available again, the other Major Separation was at Capital Gains and Games, which is now exclusively Stan Collender’s as “principal writer and managing editor.” It is also rebranded “Stan Collender’s Capital Gains and Games.” (The […]

Dr. Black has already embedded one of the few worthwhile modern Xmas songs.* And I usually leave re-posting this story to Brad DeLong, but he appears to have gone all-in for Latin and skipped it this year. So, without further ado, Mark Evanier: I arrived, headed for my favorite barbecue stand and, en route, noticed […]

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