The Economic Way of Thinking

2000-2009 TV Flashback

I have no idea if this is evidence for the "things are getting better all the time" thesis, but it's a fun set of slides to flip through.  I can't believe crazy Richard Hatch and crazier Sean Hannity were phenomena of this decade. 

Hey, speaking of media, does anyone else find it odd that Joan Baez was censored on The Smothers Brothers in 1967, but the incredibly seductive 1953 song, "Santa Baby" (Eartha Kitt version here) got a seemingly free pass from regulators (as far as I can tell)?

Assorted Links

(1) So this is Christmas?  When everyone has a right to something...

(2) A very good interview by Jan Helfeld about health care.  (HT: Sam Sholander)

(3) Why you should watch Fox News.  I'm sympathetic to Jim's point, but I find Fox, MSNBC, and most other news programs to be doing too much yelling.  I'll stick with Stewart, Colbert, and a newspaper for most of my news.  Though Stewart's biased as heck, he still get's a huge free pass from me because of this memorable CNN moment. 

(4) Speaking of Colbert: congrats to my friend and Red State blogger, Erick Erickson, for landing an interview on Colbert!   

(5) Alex Tabarrok and Bryan Caplan discussing the future of higher education.     

A Creative Genius

The quirky interview questions aside, this interview of John Mackey over at Reason TV is one of the smartest hours of television I've watched in a long time.  The man is a Misesian.  He has implemented an "outside the box" solution to rising health care costs at Whole Foods.  And, his discussion of monopoly and the FTC sounds like something straight out of Heyne, Boettke, and Prychitko's EWOT textbook. 

Arrgh, matey

One of my old pals maties (or is it, mateys?), Peter Leeson, gave a great interview on Fox Business the other day.

(This is great timing, Pete!  I had just plugged you a couple of days ago in class.  While teaching Intermediate Macro, which has been a blast so far, I dragged out one of my small "r's" for interest rates a little too long and went, "Arrrrrgh."  That made for the perfect opportunity to take a break from Keynes for a moment and tell folks about my matey, Peter Leeson.  I don't think Mercerians will believe you're for real until we get you down for a visit, but this video should hold them over for a while!)

HT: Pete Boettke

In Memoriam

Patrick Swayze's recent death left me recalling one of the best skits in SNL history; the skit is right up there with "Da Bears" skits and the "Weekend Updates" with Dan and Jane. 

It's hard to believe both men are dead, and it's also difficult to believe nearly 20 years have passed since this great night of television.

RIP, Larry Gelbart (1928-2009)

M*A*S*H writer and producer, Larry Gelbart died yesterday.  The man was responsible for helping to put together the best television program in history, and he also helped create Tootsie.  A nice summary of his career can be found here.

He left M*A*S*H after Season 4; his "Abysinnia, Henry," which concluded Season 3 of M*A*S*H and surprised the entire cast, is a masterpiece. 

Imagine

No, not this song, which is also utopian.  Instead, imagine stripping all emotion out of behavior and decision-making. 

When I present this thought experiment to students, it's immediately followed up with the statement that we'd be left with Spock or a group of Spocks.  Thankfully, there is more to man than strict and cold calculation, but let's zoom in and look at homo economicus for a while.  That, to some extent, is intermediate micro.   

Though we know people have emotion, let's suppose for a second social planners (or blobs from another planet!) were able to strip emotion out of decisions.  What would society look like? 

My Friday night movie choice for last night, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, tells us something about what this utopia would look like, as well as what the transition period from emotional man to rational man would be like.  Check it out (the 1978 version in particular) if you're struggling to find a good movie! 

The movie is thought to be commenting on communism and/or McCarthyism.  It's one of the best '70s movies I've ever watched, and you'll even see that Spock plays a significant part in the movie!

Coke or Pepsi?

While preparing for class this evening, I was able to dig up this oldie but goodie about substitute goods and rationality.  It's from the night Tim Harford visited with Stephen Colbert to discuss The Logic of Life.   

T Minus One Week

Mad Men has quickly become my favorite show on cable television, and I'm anxiously awaiting the Season 3 premiere on August 16.  The show is often filled with economic and libertarian themes, and it recently received behind-the-scenes treatment in the Wall Street Journal. 

Kenny B & Charles E

I’ll be on WPGA Macon 100.9 FM tomorrow morning at 6:35 am EST with Kenny B & Charles E.  We’ll be discussing my recent WSJ op-ed and monetization more generally, the May unemployment report, the general state of the economy, and whatever else Kenny and Charles feel like discussing.  Readers can watch live streaming video of the show here; locals can watch me on their televisions on Macon's local ABC network. 

Algorithms I Like, #3

MovieLens is a movie recommendation algorithm that I have been quite impressed with for the last few years.  Two of the most recent gems that it has brought to my attention are The Secret Life of Words and No End in Sight. 

Set your DVRS!

This announcement was waiting for me in my Inbox this morning:

1. Senior Fellow Robert Higgs will be the featured guest in an exclusive, three-hour interview on C-SPAN2's prestigious In Depth program to discuss his work as an author, economist and historian. The program will air as follows:

Sunday, April 5, 12:00 noon ET (9:00 a.m. PT)
Monday, April 6, 12:00 midnight ET (April 5, 9:00 p.m. PT)
Saturday, April 11, 9:00 a.m. ET (6:00 a.m. PT)

2. Senior Fellow Ivan Eland will be interviewed by former presidential candidate, Congressman Ron Paul, on C-SPAN2's widely influential After Words program to discuss Dr. Eland's new Independent Institute book Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty.

This program will air as follows:

Saturday, April 4, at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT)
Sunday, April 5, at 9:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. PT)
Monday, April 6, at 3:00 a.m. ET (12:00 midnight PT)
Sunday, April 12, at 12:00 noon ET (9:00 a.m. PT)
Sunday, April 19, at 12:00 noon ET (9:00 a.m. PT)

Set Your DVRs

Tonight at 10 pm (EST) John Stossel's running a special broadcast titled "Bailouts and Bull."  Here's a preview of tonight's show.  If you watch the preview closely, you can see many of the best members of the bailout resistance movement--people like Boudreaux, Caplan, Powell, Rizzo, Williams, and many more. 

S for Santelli

I promise to make this the last “I heart Rick Santelli” post for a while.  Three thoughts on the press he’s been getting the last 36 hours are below the fold. 

Listen to Rick Santelli

A few weeks ago, readers were pointed to Rick Santelli’s “take down” of Jim Cramer.  This morning, Rick Santelli was even better in criticizing government intervention and surveying the consensus from the trading pits.  I can’t recommend this short, five minute video enough. 

For those truly impressed, you can join “A Tribute Group to Rick Santelli” here.