P.J. O’Rourke on the new-found obsession of the 60s generation with safety
01 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
Justice Thomas, a colour-blind Constitution and Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
31 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
U.S. voter demographics by age
23 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: voter demographics
Conspiracy Theories Debunked: The Moon landing was a hoax?!
13 Jul 2014 1 Comment
in politics - USA Tags: conspiracy theories, moon landing hoax
If staged in the studio, a 143 minute continuous broadcast of the footage of the Moon approach and the astronauts on the Moon with the recording technology of the time would have required tapes the size of cars if it were pre-recorded in some manner on 5,300 feet of film that is free of scratches and specs of dust. 1969 did not have the technology to fake the landing on video. Slow motion video was truly primitive in 1969: 30 seconds replayed at 90 seconds maximum.
Conspiracy Theories Debunked: The Twin Towers and Building #7 fell because of explosives placed in advance of 9/11
12 Jul 2014 1 Comment
in politics - USA Tags: 9/11, conspiracy theories
The clip shows the lack of the sounds of the explosions and flashes that occur with planned demolitions.
Vox Millennials
12 Jul 2014 1 Comment
in economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: Millennials, public opinion
- 73 percent of millennials favor allowing private accounts for Social Security; 51 percent favor private accounts even it means cutting Social Security benefits for current and future retirees because 53 percent of millennials say Social Security is unlikely to exist when they retire
- 64 percent of millennials say cutting government spending by 5 percent would help the economy
- 59 percent say cutting taxes would help the economy
- 57 percent prefer a smaller government providing fewer services with low taxes, while 41 percent prefer a larger government providing more services with high taxes
- 57 percent want a society where wealth is distributed according to achievement
- 55 percent say reducing regulations would help the economy
- 53 percent say reducing the size of government would help the economy
- 74 percent of millennials say government has a responsibility to guarantee every citizen has a place to sleep and enough to eat
HT: reason.com
The system is working at last: The House And Senate Are the Most Divided in Our Lifetimes
06 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in Gordon Tullock, James Buchanan, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: bicameralism, constitutional design, public choice
One of the lessons of public choice for constitutional design is there should be two Houses of Parliament and each should be elected by a different method and different geographical basis.
Lower houses tend to be elected in single member constituencies; upper houses tend to be elected in larger multi-member, state-wide or national constituencies by proportional representation.
This diversity in legislative arrangements ensures that more people are participating in decision-making and it is harder to pass new laws without majority support.
The two elected chambers will clash as each exerts its mandate to represent the will of the people who elected it. The laws that pass these two chambers elected by different methods must have substantial popular support.
When upper and lower houses are elected by similar methods, it is much easier to assemble a majority through vote trading and lobbying.
Data via fivethirtyeight.com
Inequality is in; discrimination is out for Next Generation Left
02 Jul 2014 1 Comment
in applied price theory, income redistribution, politics - USA, Public Choice, Rawls and Nozick Tags: discrimination, inequality, Leftover Left, poverty, The Progressive Left
How Did the Prediction Markets Do?
26 Jun 2014 Leave a comment
in market efficiency, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: prediction markets
Below is a map showing the results of the 2012 US presidental elections and the map of prediction market forecasts on October 1st.
Florida had not been called to Obama when the map was made.
via Thinking on the Margin: How Did the Prediction Markets Do?.
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