Summary: We depend on experts to tell us about the future, so that we can prepare for the threats it holds. But experts are fallible, and have the same incentives as all professionals to exaggerate their skills. What happens if events catch experts going too far beyond the state of the art? How might failed …
Do we face a future without confidence in experts? Read More »
The comments on the FM website are littered with folks — probably smart, well-educated people — parroting nonsense they picked up on the Internet. We need to be more careful — and hold websites responsible for the information they post. Today’s example is Zero Hedge, a fun website posting interesting but often misleading information. Such as this: “US …
Another example of the “it’s on the Internet so it must be true” fail: Zero Hedge Read More »
Conservatives are agog over Obama’s inept response to Obama’s 17-minute, 2,500-word response to woman’s claim of being ‘over-taxed’. It’s a hot topic; high taxes are the heart of the Tea Party Movement. But are we over-taxed? A few simple graphs give a decisive (and unhappy) answer. Can we cut expenditures to balance the budget? Are …
Summary:  With Carter America returned to our 19th century tradition of electing cardboard cutouts as President. “Tippecanoe and Tyler too”! Obama stands tall as a proud addition to this roster. While his fidelity to his master might mean electoral defeat in 2012, they’ll easily find another man (or women) from which to manufacture a stirring …
More about President Obama, a decoration to the White House for the next 4 years Read More »
One of the oddities of this recession is the widespread opposition to government actions mitigating its effects. Doing almost nothing (except tax cuts) has almost become the official policy of the Republican Party, and libertarian sites such as the Instapundit frequently run articles mocking the government’s stimulus programs. A related conundrum is the stability of …
Why has the worst recession since the 1930′s had such a mild effect on America? Read More »
