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

Nails: The 2012 Republican candidate for President?

From Lenny Dyksytra’s letter to friends about his bankruptcy filing yesterday: William McKinley filed for protection while serving as Ohio’s governor in 1893. He was in debt to the tune of $130,000 (an insurmountable sum in those days!) before some friends eventually helped to bail him out. Three years later, he occupied a desk in […]

Yankee Interlude

I’m not really paying attention to (major league) baseball this year, so I should probably leave this to Scott, but, as a query: For all team that was supposed to have had a major improvement in its middle relief this year, the Yankees appear to have given up a large number (>=7) of runs in […]

Miami Vice

Reality (h/t Dr. Black): In certain ZIP codes in places like Homestead and Florida City, around 25 percent of the homes are in one stage of foreclosure or another. Countless others were built by developers and sit vacant in ghostly subdivisions, with not a buyer in sight. In the days after Andrew, then-Dade County Emergency […]

Ancient History

Celebrating a past era, probably in the late 1980s: Celebrating a War of Consensus, early 1992: Also early 1992 (for me), more than any other, the symbol of a firm (before Alan Raised a Cayne): Extra credit: Name the book used as background for the 1973 Mets tribute card and the unopened Desert Storm card […]

Correlation is not Causation, but

J. C. Bradbury notes that early-season weather and home runs hit, while it is noted in comments that the decline is primarily in the American League and some suggestions on developing a model are made. (No, I’m not turning this into a baseball blog. There are purposes to these posts. All will be revealed.)

Just a distraction

25*30 = 750 104/750 = 13.9% For those more conversant in the “disincentives of enforcement” literature than I, can you back into the Rational Expectation of Enforcement Practices that would lead nearly 14% of a population to conclude it is maximizing utility? And, given your calculation, what would that say about the Management Practices of […]