This came in response to Trump toying with the idea of US debt default a few weeks ago. My intention was to post it here in a timely manner but it got lost it the sauce for awhile. So in the famous words of Ringo Starr, forgive the lateness of my reply. --- Trump was... Read More

Futurepundit's Randall Parker sees restrictions on domestic oil production effectively serving to lower the US' collective time preference for gasoline. We'll pass on the marshmallow now to guarantee a couple of them down the road--or at least we'll let it roast for awhile until it takes on a golden hue: This isn't the first time... Read More

In an unsettling Parapundit post on Yemen's freeing of those involved in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, Brent Lane points out that 70 Yemenis have been "registered" and now qualify for permanent residency visas through this year's Diversity Visa Lottery. The DVL is a program that grants legal residency "to persons from... Read More

More evidence that inhaling smoke created by burning dirty plants is not good for you: Cigarettes were injected into the English world's bloodstream during the Crimean War, brought from the Near East by Ottoman soldiers who fought alongside British forces against Russia. Less than a decade-and-a-half later, before the American 'Civil War' had ended, cigarettes... Read More

Why the current income tax structures, for both corporations and individuals at both the federal and state levels, need an overhaul: Ernst doesn't specialize in cost accounting. Wal-Mart isn't calling on one of the big four to help it realize efficiency gains in its distribution process. The mass retailer wants to shuffle around income classifications,... Read More

Cramer, Wall Street, and the lenders were all just thrown a bone:The discount rate is distinct from the funds rate, the latter directly influencing adjustable and new mortgage, credit card, and auto loan rates. But cutting the discount rate by 8% provides a cheaper source of cash for banks and lenders who are reeling from... Read More

I disagree with Jim Cramer's plea to the Fed, even if he got the window opened for awhile like he wanted. He's made quite a name and nestegg for himself in pushing hedge funds that have managed 20% returns in a market growing at a real annualized rate of about 3%. The math doesn't seem... Read More

Frustrated with the monumental defeat of surreptitious Senate-sponsored amnesty, Michael Chertoff had this to say:How incredibly lame. The Secretary of Homeland Security doesn't like upsetting people who disagree with the laws he's sworn to enforce, so he's going to drag his feet? And he actually has the audacity to say so?Imagine John Walters balking in... Read More

Mensarefugee, maintainer of the blog DifferingPointsOfView, dug up the pdf of the Ohio State University study regarding the relationship between wealth and IQ that made a little media splash a couple of weeks ago. The press release made a befuddling claim: IQ and income are related, but IQ and wealth are not. That left me... Read More

Like the Republican Executive/Democratic Congressional split? Demographic trends are increasing the likelihood that it will become the norm into 2020 (free partial here): A few states that have gone to the GOP in the recent past stand to be the biggest winners. Florida is projected to gain nine additional seats (and electoral college votes), Texas... Read More

As an intellectual toddler who only realized that a world beyond the front door existed a few years back, I'm relentless in trying to draw analogies between the present and the historical accounts I read. When your body of knowledge is so limited, you don't have many other options. Still, sometimes things are so blatant... Read More