Journal of Law and Economics

I just received a fax from Dennis Carlton, the editor of JLE. It reads as follows:

We are pleased to accept your revised paper for publication. Please make your final changes and send the finished manuscript and disk to our managing editor...

We look forward to publishing your work.

Sincerely,
Dennis W. Carlton
Editor

Thanks Dad, for taking the time to read my paper!

What is "the only thing that makes us happy as adults for no reason"?

...according to Saul Steinberg, that is. Read this New Yorker article by Adam Gopnik to find out. I like the Gopnik. He wrote a nice book on France, "Paris to the Moon." As usual, I got about half way thru it before putting it down. In case you're curious, here is an excerpt from Gop's book.

Wiki-dy wack

A couple months ago I expounded upon the virtues of Wikipedia. It turns out to be a fairly resilient mode of colloboration. See, e.g., post over at Boing Boing: "Wikipedia proves its amazing self-healing powers".

In Praise of my UPS shirt

I think Steph might enjoy this nonsense. Some guy has posted about a used UPS shirt he purchased recently. Steph has a fondness for such shirts. Anyway, he goes into some detail over the quality of his UPS shirt. His concluding comment and explanation on the length of the shirt is my favorite.

Link

2 + 1 = 1

If one's predicted increase to GNP exceeds the actual increase to GNP, then this means GNP declined. Right? Well, according to Reuters it does.

Link

How to define a good job

An "economic scene" article by economist Alan Krueger in the NYT discusses how economists distinguish between "good" and "bad" jobs. Neoclassical economists, as Kreuger notes, make no such distinction:

All workers are supposed to be in jobs that reward them appropriately for their performance, which depends on their skills and effort. Supply and demand for workers determine their appropriate pay, benefits and working conditions, and there is little else to say.

In this view, all jobs are good jobs, because pay is based on merit. There are good and bad workers, which is why pay varies, but not good and bad jobs.

If an employer offered more than the prevailing wage and benefits for a job, he or she would be besieged by a queue of willing workers who would bid the wage down to the competitive level. Any profit-maximizing employer would not pay more than is necessary, so competitive pressures should eliminate unusually good jobs.

This, however, is only one perspective. As they say, go read it yourself.

Chicago Architecture Tour

The tours are lots of fun and informative. But, for future reference, you might want to take a raincoat on your next tour. And be sure to watch out for those metal grated bridges!

Link

1982 article in LIFE on elite arcade gamers

Some good stuff here on arcade gamers at the height of their early 80s glory. It even includes some sweet pics of these physically intimidating gamers. Unfortunately, no one from LIFE interviewed me for their article.

For the unaware, at the height of my early 80s glory, I won a Pac Man tie in an arcade competition at the Focus arcade in Ann Arbor. I also was the proud owner of my very own Pac Man arcade game. I got it for a $100 and the guy who sold it to me even agreed to lend me his truck to get it home. When I got home, my parents were equally excited with my purchase. The game was relegated to the porch outside and I was forced to relinquish it less than a year later. Nevertheless, and aside form the frost bite, I have many fond memories of racking of record high scores in the sub-zero weather.

Kakutani Fixed-Point Theorem

Michiko's dad, Shizuo passed away last week. He was 92 years old. It just so happens that Dr. Kakutani was a brilliant mathematician. One tool he developed, known as the Kakutani fixed-point theorem, was a key component of the original proof of the existence of Nash equilibria. Kakutani's theorem is also used to prove a famous theorem developed by Arrow and Debreau, which says there are prices for goods that balance supply and demand in a complex economy.

Swimming class

Sam is still trying to figure out how to dive. As they say down here, "soon come."

Stephanie Kahl

Two recent pictures of my beautiful wife. I was asked to take some headshots of Steph for a publication that is doing a piece on her and her friend Karen Clarke's art/graphics work. The boards behind Steph were used to protect the condos during the Charley hubbub. I suppose they'll remain until hurricane season is over.

Post-Charley pics

Two pictures. The first taken 4 or so hours after the hurricane passed in between Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. Its intended to show the wave action, which wasn't much to write home about but the boys enjoyed the excitement (e.g., when the waves crash against the rocks they make quite a noise). Sam and Oliver were assigned the task of keeping an eye out for ships in distress. Note from their expressions, this is serious work!

The latter pic was taken whenever, and is intended to show how close the condos are to the ocean. We get some really nice sunsets, by the way.

Michiko Kakutani

Another lady I'd consider stalking. She is a book critic for the NYT and she writes very well. Nothing flowery or ornamental, just clear, concise, and insightful - the way I like it. Here is a recent, and controversial, example of her stuff - a review of Clinton's biography. And on a somewhat related note, if you wish to amuse yourself check out this very funny article in McSweeney's.

9.9 Ounces

A miracle (of medicine) and a nice ending to boot. For purposes of comparison, note that the boys weighed 10 lbs more than this gib at birth (Sam's birth weight was 10 lbs. 10 ounces, and ODB's birth weight was 10 lbs. 9 ounces, which I suppose are examples at the opposite end of the spectrum).

Here too is another image of inspiration. You think he got it?

Addendum: Link to a short story on what the 9.9 ouncer, Madeline Mann, is up to today.

More random musings

I went out at lunch today and signed up Steph for C&W's prepaid "bFree" mobile calling plan. Its a post-birthday, birthday present. The tardiness of the gift is fully justified, and Steph will even back me up on this. The cool thing about mobiles down here is that all of the providers offer what is called "calling party pays" or CPP service, so you only pay for outgoing calls; i.e., incoming calls are charged entirely to the party that initiated the call. For this reason prepaid plans are the predominant service plan. People leave them on and make few outgoing calls. I think its a free-rider problem and the "receiving party pays" or RPP regime we have in the States is preferable from an economic standpoint. On that note, I point you to an article in Newsweek by Dad, er, correction, by Robert Samuelson on why he hates mobile phones and will never get one.

Xeni Jardin

I love reading this chick's stuff. She is kind of out there, but totally hip, and down with the coolest stuff. If I were not married to Steph, I'd seriously consider stalking her. Here is a recent post from Xeni on some nonsense called Pho (apparently pronounced: "fur?"). She posts regularly on Boing Boing, which by the way is one of my favorite blogs. And if you are a motivated wannabe stalker such as myself, you can check out her homepage.

Still no ADSL

As of last week, at which time I finally informed Cable & Wireless that I work for the Authority that regulates their ass and that I am pissed, my order is now being "expedited." However, for a variety of reasons that are out of the control of everyone I speak to, we still have no ADSL. The following blog posts are reminiscent of what I'm going thru, plus they are funny...

Earthlink's crazy-talking support staff

Verizon DSL hook-up

NHC Issues 'All Clear'

Hurricane Charley passed us by with barely a hello. It was exciting, and at times a little nerve wracking, taking part in the prep and hoopla that preceded Charley. Our new place is very close to the ocean - once we get our ADSL hooked up at home, I will post some pics of just how close, along with some nice post-Charley wave action - and its situated on the part of the island that was anticipated to get the brunt of the storm. As it turns out, the east end of the island got the worst of it, which consisted of minor tree damage (or so I'm told from some coworkers). Now all eyes are on Cuba, who got nailed last night. Since passing Cayman it has picked up steam and was a Category 2 going over Havana, which means it has wind speeds of ... uh? ... greater than 100 mph, I think. I'm told it is expected to get up to Category 3 by the time it hits Florida.

Sam and Oliver took in the excitement with the calm of two young boys who had no idea what was going on. I tried explaining to them what I thought was going to happen, but then Steph insisted I stop, that I was just freaking them out. When the storm passed yesterday afternoon and we all went outside for a walk, Sam was disappointed - no, in fact, he was angry with me - that there was not more distruction.

So you think you know Ann Arbor?

This is a fun quiz. Its pretty easy but it brings back memories. E.g., throwing peanuts on the floor at Bimbo's, listening to Bob Ufer go nuts on the radio, etc. Go check it out. Noah pointed me to this article.

American Inequality and Its Consequences

Before going off line I thought I'd share the following. Looks to be some good hurricane reading for me. American Inequality and Its Consequences, by Burtless and Jencks. An excerpt:

Overall, we conclude that the effects of inequality on economic growth, health, and equality of opportunity are modest and uncertain in rich countries. We worry most about the possibility that changes in the distribution of income have led to changes in the distribution of political power both because such a change undermines the legitimacy of the political system and because it can make the increase in economic inequality irreversible. But although we worry about these risks, we have no way of knowing how great they are. We conclude that citizens of the United States and other rich countries should decide how much economic inequality they are willing to tolerate largely on the basis of what they think is just, not on the basis of its alleged beneficial or adverse effects.

Hurricane Charley

Looks whats heading our way:

A hurricane warning, alerting residents to storm conditions within 24 hours, was in effect for the Cayman Islands. Jamaica was under a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch, which warns of possible storm conditions in 36 hours.

The storm was expected to carry 3 to 6 inches of rain and dangerous waves to Jamaica and the Caymans on Wednesday. Forecasters said Charley could become a hurricane in a day or so.

The government of the Caymans Islands, a British territory and major offshore financial center, said Grand Cayman, the largest island in the group, could get 9-12 foot waves, with an even heavier surf on two sparsely populated smaller islands.

They board up our ocean front windows this afternoon and we've been told by our landlord to move all items of value to high ground. It is estimated to hit the Caymans Thursday morning at 2am. This is our first experience with a major storm. It should be interesting.

Addendum (11:55am central time): Charley has slowed down (which I'm told is a BAD sign) and is projected to hit Grand Cayman. Our office is shutting down at 1pm. I'm heading home at that time to setout a gameplan with Steph. My primary concern is that we're on the part of the island that historically is hit the worst and our complex is particularly vulnerable (our unit is no more than 75 feet from the water!). This evening and/or tomorrow, we may be staying with a friend of ours, Erik Whitlock. I'll be calling mom and dad this evening to apprise them of the latest.

Tool, part deux

Hear W, in his own voice, struggle mightily to explain "Sovereignty":

Tribal sovereignty means that. It's sovereign. It's...you're...you're a...you've been given sovereignty......

Listen to journalists break out in laughter as Bush tries to explain what "sovereignty" is.

Hilarious or depressing, depending on your perspective.

The Peculiar World of Fanatics

The link below is to a fine piece of journalism reminding us that Israeli society contains both "goodies" and "badies". The group described in the article is relatively small but politcally powerful and in many respects, dangerous. Its power stems from singlemindedness, an all-consuming belief in a biblical "greater Israel" from river to sea, as well as organizational energy and skill, all of which is fueled by religious zealotry and unconcern for the fate of the Palestinians. Incidently, many of these people are from the U.S. and if you read the article you'll likely feel as I do that we should be damn thankful to the Israelis for taking them off our hands.

Here is the Link.

What a bunch of tools

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

No one in Bush's audience of military brass or Pentagon chiefs reacted.

...

"[T]he American people know this president speaks with clarity and conviction, and the terrorists know by his actions he means it," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Link

You grill? iGrill! Web grill? We all grill!!

I only ask, why?

Oh, and another diversion I found particularly entertaining, this nice (anonymously authored) short story about bugs. It has the striking penmanship of Laura, yes?

And one last post I must share before I terminate this bout of procrastination: Thank goodness for Steph, we do not reside in Arizona.

Safe Sex, Part Deux

In June of 2003, New Zealand decriminalized prostitution. The NZ govt recently released some occupational, safety and health guidelines. There is some excellent advice here...

In situations where more than one worker is providing service to a client (e.g. threesomes) it is necessary to ensure that equipment such as vibrators and dildos is not used by one person and then another without being cleaned, disinfected and having a new condom put on first. Ideally each worker should have her/his own toys and equipment, which are not used by other workers. Each worker may choose to use a condom of a different colour in order to identify who has used the dildo last.

Now imagine what would happen were the US adminstration to offer such advice? Two words, Jocelyn Elders! [Note: this post is taken from Marginal Revolution.]

Safe Sex

What is the minimum number of condoms required for safe sex in each case:

(a) two men with two women
(b) one man with three women or three men with one woman
(c) three men with each other
(d) 2k+1 men with one woman
(e) m men and n women

If only I had been lucky enough in my bach-ing days to find this information useful. If you want the answers, go here.

Child Abuse?, Slight Return

There is a scary article in today's NYT about "TV's Toll on Young Minds and Bodies". One finding reads:

A study of 2,500 children conducted at Children's Hospital in Seattle and published in April in the journal Pediatrics found that the more TV watched by toddlers aged 1 to 3, the greater their risk of attention problems at age 7. For each hour watched a day, the risk of developing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder increased by nearly 10 percent. Children with this problem find it hard to concentrate, have difficulty organizing and exhibit impulsive behavior.

Child Abuse?

Economist, Craig Depken, has this to say about a slideshow of Palestinian children:

This slideshow contains some pictures that are frankly very disturbing. Someone smart in Israel once said that the Palestinians would seek peace with the Jews when they loved their kids more than they hated the Jewish people.

Perhaps the same can be said for the rest of the Middle East. Until the societies in those countries decide that their children can have a better future without playing with guns and being indoctrinated to hate/kill the infidel, the West will have trouble making headway. Where are the gun-control advocates and children protective services when they could really do some good?

Much like the feminist movement, which seems conveniently quiet about how Islamic women are treated, those concerned about children and their future are silent about the way Islamic children are raised - full of hatred and jealousy but convinced that it is their religious duty to be so enraged.

The Bean

Some nice pictures of the Bean and a story about the controversy surrounding its name. I can't wait to check out the park upon my return. I do miss Chicago!