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Quote of the Day, Election Edition
From Katharine Q. Seelye of the New York Times, writing with no apparent sense of irony about Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Serena Mancini: She favors raising the minimum wage and indexing it to...
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Now What?
It was the election of 1994 that knocked the idealism out of me. Republicans ran on a national platform of reform, they won — and nothing happened. My recollection (someone correct me if I have this...
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Post-Halloween Mystery
So apparently there was this pumpkin…… A colleague spotted it on the floor in front of my office door on Sunday afternoon and was intrigued enough (or weirded out enough) to snap a couple of pictures:...
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The Rising Sea
Around 1970, Alexander Grothendieck, the greatest of all modern mathematicians and arguably the greatest mathematician of all time, announced — at the age of 42 — the official end of his research...
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The Generalist
I never met Alexander Grothendieck. I was never in the same room with him. I never even saw him from a distance. But whenever I think about math — which is to say, pretty much every day — I feel him...
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In Defense of Gruber
Regarding Jonathan Gruber and the Cadillac tax, I think a little historical context will be useful: 1) Our tax system subsidizes employer-provided health insurance. That’s dumb. Pretty much all...
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Who I Hope We Are Not as Americans
So let me get this straight. We drew this imaginary line in the desert. We’ll no longer use force to move people from this side to that side, but we will still use force to prevent movement from that...
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Borderline Disorder
Here’s one difference between me and Paul Krugman: He enthusiastically supports President Obama’s new immigration policy, which he calls a matter of human decency. I grudgingly support President...
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Day of Thanks
This is a slightly revised version of my Thanksgiving post from five years ago. I think it bears repeating: After the philosopher Daniel Dennett was rushed to the hospital for lifesaving surgery to...
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More Thanks
Yes, I’ve already got one Thanksgiving post up. But we should not skimp on gratitude, so here’s another: Today I am thankful that I live in a time and a place where indictments are handed down (or not)...
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Two Questions for Bob Murphy
Bob Murphy objects to my recent defense of Jonathan Gruber. I have two questions for Bob. Suppose a newly elected Republican president wants to exempt all investment income from taxation. There are two...
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