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Stephen Dubner does a gloss on the now familiar finding that we enjoy stuff for reasons far removed from the stuff’s intrinsic properties. His angle is that you will enjoy wine more if you know you paid more for it. I first came upon this proposition many, many years ago, around the time that Philip [...]
Archive for December, 2010
December 16th, 2010
Category: Uncategorized
“I hope I don’t interfere with your Christmas shopping.”
December 15th, 2010
Bob Dineen, chief flack for the US biofuels industry, is delighted with the extension of the ethanol and biodiesel tax credits that ex-Illinois senator Obama didn’t filter out of the tax compromise. No, the Brazilians aren’t going to be relieved of the import duty that’s preventing us from using the one biofuel (their sugar cane [...]
December 15th, 2010
Category: Uncategorized
Would the Son of Mary object to working on Christmas to prevent a nuclear war?
December 15th, 2010
Category: Uncategorized
If the GOP wants to stall the Senate, Harry Reid will bring it back after Christmas. You go, Harry!
December 14th, 2010
Category: Law Notes
Timothy Robicheaux and Brian Bornstein have an intriguing review of appellate cases in the current issue of Psychology, Public Policy and Law (abstract free, full article behind pay wall). About three fourths of the time, appellate courts have followed the principal of criminal law when dealing with punitive damages, i.e., there is no point in [...]
December 14th, 2010
An open thread on climate science – entirely pointless.
December 12th, 2010
On Megan McArdle, Mel Gibson, and inconvenient facts.
December 12th, 2010
High-speed trains for Tangier, not Milwaukee.