Links! Links! Links!

Biden policy lives (The Economist)
Long live the blog (The Economist)
More on what they are arguing about (The Economist)
Co-Working: Not exactly working from home, but not exactly going into the office either. (The Economist)
The Problem with Naming Transit Stations (Atlantic Cities)
Layaway is making a comeback, and that's a good thing (Free Exchange)
We take the historical site bullshit a little too far (Matt Yglesias)
Finally! Recess! (Plain Blog)

on Sin Taxes

The Economist has a piece on how the effectiveness of sin taxes is leading to a government shortfall in revenues (UK Government). What they fail to address is how the gains lifespan, that will result from such a change in behavior, will effect the economy. A longer life span will lead to more productivity per person, an expansion of the work force and therefore a greater expansion of the economy in comparison to one with more drinking, smoking and gas consumption. While a short term problem it certainly is (much in the same way the EPA's critics claim higher environmental standards are bad for business) the long term gains far outweigh it.

Links! Links! Links!

Bloomberg:

Afghanistan really was a no good very bad place, from a logistics standpoint, for the US to have invaded.

Leaving a party when you are the largest military force on the planet is a lot more complicated than you think.

I think Lithuania is getting one of the worst deals when it comes to the debt crisis.

China continues to experience growing pains.

The Economist:

Language continues to be weird.

And so does America and Religion.

3D printing marches onward.

Some Thoughts on the TPP FTA

First off why is this article in this weeks Economist the first time I have ever heard of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership? There is a chance that it might become a big deal this month with an APEC meeting taking place, and it would be an even bigger deal if Japan were to enter into negotiations. Without Japan it does not look like it would be all that interesting due to the fact that most of the countries involved have a standing free trade agreement with the US, the notable exception of course being Vietnam and New Zealand. Opening up to another English speaking country would obviously be worth more to New Zealand and the US than a non-English speaking country of the same standing. Vietnam I would assume would benefit greatly from becoming even cheaper than it is to US firms in regards to China (which may force the US and China to finally work out their problems).

The big fish though, is Japan. Tying the 1st and 3rd largest economies together would be nothing short of fantastic and may entice China to join the club or at least play a bit more fairly.

I don't claim to know anything about FTA or trade in general but I really want to learn more about trade deals.

Some Thoughts on Who the Voters Will Blame in 2012

Not really all that relevant to the story but Is Rick Scott's zeal/ineptitude going to effect the 2012 election in Florida even though he is not on the ballot? His approval rating as of the end of March was 29% and if memory serves me correctly even his party turned on him over his rejection of high speed rail money. A lot has been made of what swing states with high unemployment (Florida's is over 10%) will do when it comes to the Presidential elections but nothing seems to have been made of who is to blame in these swing states. May Barack Obama get a pass because Floridians blame Rick Scott for their woes? In WI I'm sure Mr. Obama could get a pass on a lot of things simply because Scott Walker, the most visible Republican in the state, is not well liked either, not to mention what a certain Representative from WI has done to single handedly diminish GOP 2012 chances. . Of course this is all subject to change and I could be completely wrong but I think this is something that is going under reported and would love to see some polling on it.

Programming Note

Due to a wonderful vacation over the weekend I found myself unable to read/listen to this weeks Economist. That of course doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a quick perusal and pick out a couple to read. At a glance I would go with the briefing on Nigeria and the Special Report on Australia. The new issue comes out today so I should be back on schedule next week.

This is not related at all but it appears Yemen is falling apart. If this doesn't resolve itself soon I don't see how Saudi Arabia does not get involved.

Some Thoughts on The Economist May 21st

In case you have been living under a rock for the past two weeks here is a good rundown of why the arrest of DSK matters.

The housing market continues to fall, I blame Thomas Jefferson.

With 3D printing in it's ascendancy I don't see how there is any other option. That is in the long term, but in the short term I think current manufacturing methods aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Creating small specific pieces and prototypes will be what we use 3D printing for for the foreseeable future.

If you need a crash course on why Pakistan is the problem in Southern Asia then look no further. For my opinion read below.

Some good coverage on Libya this week. Qaddafi is done. This is one of the reasons for why he is done. The international community did the right thing, but it may cost them. Look for my thoughts on Libya a little later.

I'm liberal. I'm Pro-Union. And I still think this looks really bad.

Because this post is lacking opinion I'll leave you with this parting shot. Some people have it out for Ronald McDonald. Now I can't say that when I think of a "balance, active lifestyles ambassador" but I also don't think he is the Marlboro Man. People are not fat because of McDonald's, people are fat because they handed over their hard earned cash to eat food that McDonald's provides. If people can not see the correlation between their ever expanding waste lines and the food they eat then that is their problem. Now if by the grace of god they realize a hamburger is not made of leafy greens then McDonald's will adapt to it. Oh wait......

Some Thoughts On The Economist May 14th - 20th 2011

Really good Afghan coverage this week, paired with this news, I think my thoughts from earlier in the week are looking better.

Did someone say bubble?
I do think some of these companies are overvalued considering in the end all they hold are pageviews which navigate to the coolest new trends but with that said the market and technology are not the same as a decade ago. Then again I know only what I read online and hear from Planet Money.

Microsoft did not buy Skype to make money, because this market will never make money, especially with Google and Apple all ready in the game and I'm sure Facebook will jump in at some point as well. They must have bought it to integrate it into a future OS and enhance current products. Personally I would like to see, and I think we will some day, an integration of video chatting into the phone system as a whole, regardless of what operator you use.

List the World Cup on Ebay?
Would eliminate board corruption, would reward teams who are looking to spend money on the sport and would set the drama to zero? I'm cool with it.

Security State? You must be white.
Caveat: I'm a middle class, white, male.
I find it interesting that the majority of this country found it ok that people could be stopped at random, searched, roughed up and jailed on a bogus charge but to be inconvenienced at the airport is an outrage.

Once Again......
I would like to stress that if China and India do not start importing females soon then they are in for a whole lot of social upheaval in the next few decades. If China doesn't end its one child policy soon it is going to need to really liberalize on immigration to deal with the huge increase in retirees going forward. In other words China's ascendancy is in for a rocky furture

Consolation Prize
It appears that although we have seen our retirement funds wither away, debt pile up and had to deal with job insecurity all of that was a rouse win back our jobs from the Chinese!

To limit or not to limit?
I think its moronic that we kid ourself into thinking that putting limits on our debt but not our spending will keep us from appropriating too many funds. With that said I like that it requires us to think about our debt obligations and reassess if it is the right thing to do, regardless of how stupid the debate becomes.

My Thoughts on The Economist May 7th - 13th 2011

Redistricting rows: Not so easy
It warms my heart to see that even in a place like Texas redistricting can still be difficult. Some day this nonsense will stop and all districts will be redrawn by an algorithm. That of course will happen in 2076.

Chicago's new police superintendent: The new blue
Is it not counterintuitive that a chief of police comes from a city other than the one he is from? Does he not need an innate knowledge of the city and the citizenry he is protecting? Wasn't Compstat proved to be a load of bullshit and what really works is boots on the ground and a relationship with your local police department? Am I going crazy?

China's population: The most surprising demographic crisis
I assume that is sarcasm in the title but one never does know. But a country that isn't hitting the replacement rate, has very large "boomer" generation, has about eighteen more boys per hundred girls and has yet to hit democracy/labor movements is definitely going to have some social issues in the future.

Robots and Japan's nuclear disaster: Nukebots
Reason 3294850298 I love Massachusetts, we made the robots that Japan can't make.

Pakistan is on no one's side:
And we better start realizing that sooner rather than later.

Real time advertising is the wave of the wave of the future........
......that is until it isn't.

And what are they going to do when the all those IE users eventually die off and the dominant browsers all support a version of Ad Block? What then Don Draper? What then?!?!

The Beer Market
First of all, that's a lot of Stella in that cart. Second: Stella is actually a shit beer to the rest of the world. Third: it is pronounced Who-Gar-Den. Fourth Craft Brews will be brought in to the fold by the big players just like every other "revolution" in every other market. Fifth: OMG THEY FINALLY FIGURED OUT THAT BEER IS CHEAPER AT THE STORE THAN AT THE BAR?!?! THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US!!!!

The Economist April 30th - May 6th 2011

Cloud Computing's Growing Pains: Break-ins and breakdowns
What I find hilarious about the outrage with the compromising of data online is that people seem to think that this is innately due to the relative newness of the technology and the corresponding market. The thought that overtime this won't happen is ludicrous. People still rob banks, piracy continues to plague the seas and muggings still happen. All this even though we now have security cameras, spend billions on anti piracy measures and personal use of mace and tasers. Online capers will never go away, the stakes will only get higher.

America's transport infrastructure: Life in the slow lane
I love infrastructure projects, and I loathe the lack of train infrastructure in the US. So it should not come as a surprise that I agree that the US is woefully underspending on infrastructure. We are not just talking about potholes either, we area talking about losing economic prowess and jobs to other countries because we make the cost of doing business harder due to our lack of a modern transport network.

America's jobless me: Decline of the working man
And while we are at it why don't we employee the millions of men in the construction trade to improve that said transport infrastructure?

Europe's political parties: The shrinking big tents
While reading this I couldn't help relate it to the fragmentation of TV since the introduction of cable channels. The overwhelming majority of viewers of television in the US used to be held by the big three broadcasting companies ABC, NBC and CBS but now because of the spread of satellite and cable technologies as well as the internet their ratings are shrinking. Like TV ratings votes in political systems that allow for choice (parliamentary systems) are spreading out across the spectrum. This must be because of the internet and the downward cost of advertising that allows people to easily identify and engage with smaller parties instead of having to choose between the political behemoths that used to dominate the market.

Nuptial Economics: Unbridled
A $19,000 signing bonus to marry a woman from the UAE?

Economic Focus: Botox and beancounting
Why do country's report official economic numbers in such varying ways? Do they not realize that they only confuse those who vote? Oh wait....

Some Thoughts on The Economist April 23rd - 29th 2011

This weekly post has everything to do with me forcing myself to read the whole Economist by Tuesday and nothing to do with you caring. I will try to keep it to less than 10 articles a week because that is the limit for non-subscribers.

Thrusters v Laggers

I am eagerly looking forward to the year that we more or less have a national primary day and we can dispose of this 6 month primary nonsense. I have no facts to back up my case, but I would be willing to guess that the extended primary season contributes heavily to the billions spent on elections. Personally I would love to see a national primary day in the beginning of July followed by a run off for the top two in each party in September followed by 2 months of campaigning and then the final match-up in November. We would save money and vastly shorten the presidential campaign season, maybe this might even benefit governance in someway.

Brazil's Economy: Wild Horses

I really just wanted to call your attention to this graph more than anything. Bad news for US citizens and their Brazilian vacations but good news for those US citizens looking to sell US products to Brazilians.

The River Nile: A dam nuisance

Insult to injury right here, not only is Egypt losing clout due to an internal power struggle (you call it democracy I call it veiled elites vying for power, pun intended) but their upstream neighbors get together and steal the water rights to to one of their national treasures! I'm linking to this because when most of us think about water rights we  imagine Western states jockeying for the ability to keep their grass green in the middle of the desert. This is all about the ability to harness the Nile for energy purposes, which all of Africa is going to need badly when the boom times kick in to top gear. Wars will be fought over water but possible not for drinking purposes.

Croatia and Serbia: Protest days

One country's war hero is the rest of the world's war criminal. Makes you wonder what would have happened to a certain Civil War General if the war was fought in the present international climate.

Others:
Schumpeter: The case against globaloney
Bagehot: No more royal weddings
Direct Democracy: Vox populi or hoi polloi?
Out-of-home advertising: Billboard boom

The Donald

I honestly was not paying attention much to Donald Trump's latest flirtation with politics mostly because that is all it probably will end up being in the end, simple flirtation. That is until I read The Economist this week (love the art btw) and came away from it with a new sense of what the phenomenon is truly about.

What struck me most in Lexington's column was this line, "We'll be taking in hundreds of billions of dollars from other countries that are screwing us." Now it may be because I am currently reeling from an episode over Easter in which I feel I was unfairly denied my ability to win, or it may be because I am finely tuned into American culture, regardless, America loves to blame the opposing team, not themselves, and Mr. Trump is acutely aware of that.

We as Americans are never far from insinuating cheating when a situation does not go our way. It's never because the losing team was over matched, because admitting as much would be the same as admitting failure, the real reason is usually because of some shenanigans by our opponents or the referees or both. So when Mr.Trump says we will take the billions back that were wrongly taken from us by those cheating Chinese he is striking at the heart of our inability to admit that we are in fact probably not the best at everything.

We as Americans refuse to admit as much, and why not? We kick ass in every sport that matters to us (See: "World Series" or "World Champions"), we sweep the Olympics every year, we have the best military, Hollywood, and we landed on the moon. We are amazing. And you know what? There is nothing wrong with high confidence, that's precisely why America has gotten where it has gotten. Though we may have been winning the race for the better part of the past century we didn't lose our lead because we were tripped, we did so because we became complacent. And nothing Mr. Trump can say will change that.