Monday's Brain: Shrill and Despondent
Apr. 21st, 2008 09:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfs- The Voices In Her Head.
- I'm a little leery of articles that are dated from the future (the date on this one from The New Repubic reads "May 7, 2008"), but it's an interesting analysis of Team Hillary and its dysfunctional inner life. This isn't the smooth operation of the Bill era. The Clinton campaign comes across as Bushite in flavor: powerful loyalty relationships and terrible competitions between those who have risen to name recognition; the low-level people are chewed up as if they were a renewable resource. We don't hear these kinds of soap operas coming out of the Obama or McCain campaigns.
- Political Will
- Jon Chait says some very smart things about Obama's "bitter" gaffe, laughs at George Will ("the fabulously wealthy, bow tie-wearing, pretentious reference-mongering, Anglophilic fop who grew up in a university town as a professor's son, earned two advanced degrees, and has a designated table at a French restaurant in Georgetown") for leaping to the defense of the proletariat, and points to Obama's 2004 interview where, Chiat says,
Obama argues that, in the absence of plausible economic improvement, people in small towns will vote on the basis of those traditions that give their lives stability. This is not a controversial view among Democrats. Bill Clinton once said that Republicans "find the most economically insecure white men and scare the living daylights out of them"--a less respectful expression of the same analysis... The process of trying to persuade others to reconsider the nature of their self-interest is not some Marxist exercise or an accusation of false consciousness. It's what we call "democracy."
Sorry, did that sound condescending? - John McCain's April Fools Joke... Right?
- Economist Dean Baker points out that McCain's call to suspend the federal gas tax through the summer months will not only deprive the Interstate Highway System of desperately needed infrastructure cash, but it will do absolutely zero to lower the price of gasoline. Prices rise in response to costs, and drop in response to competition. Removing the gas tax will not cause stations to lower their prices; instead, consumer demand and a general unwillingness on the part of station owners to forgo the income immediately will keep prices exactly where they are throughout the summer months. At a time when Congress is grilling oil companies about why they need corporate welfare when they have high profitability, McCain's hearty gift is just crazy.
Who the Hell is advising McCain on money these days? Oh, yeah. Phil Gramm. - Expelled disappoints.
- Comparing Expelled to Michael Moore's last two flicks, it's a flop. It took in $3.4 million in its opening week compared to $24 million for both Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko. I'm not a fan of Moore, but I'm far less a fan of Ben Stein. This... makes me feel better. But I'm not happy.
- Creationism and Violence
- One of the claims of Expelled is that people who "see the hand of the designer in biology" are harassed and driven out of their chosen professions because of that claim. Their claims are a little weak. Blake Stacey, in contrast, documents cases of people who have lost their jobs, received death threats, and been physically attacked, and in case been killed by a disturbed religious person, all because they advocated a pro-science position.
Since I first read this article last week, several more cases have been added to the bottom of the article. I'm a little leery about including the Mirecki case because his assailants have not been found, but as long as it remains ambiguous you may as well read it and decide for yourself. (via Pharyngula)
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-21 04:46 pm (UTC)Though we get an occasional twinge here of it in the UK, folks like Richard Dawkins (though I disagree politically with him on just about everything, he is completely salt of the earth when it comes to science) stamp on it pretty quickly.
We can't be complacent though. Especially given the upsurge in the Islamic equivalent of Creationism. But for now, I think we deserve a small, restrained pat on the back. And a quiet cheer. BUt only one hup.
Supply and demand
Date: 2008-04-22 06:12 am (UTC)His explanation of why demand will keep prices high is gibberish.
Supply isn't fixed. That's logically equivalent to saying the oil companies are already making as much gasoline as they possibly can-- that just somehow we're using exactly 100.0% of the capacity of all refineries.
Two minutes of research over at http://www.eia.doe.gov shows that refinery utilization is seasonal and generally highest in the summer, but it looks like utilization so far in 2008 has been well below that of recent years (see the last slide in http://www.eia.doe.gov/conf_pdfs/Tuesday/Gorder.pdf for example).
But more importantly-- especially when considering what Baker's opinions imply about his qualifications as an economist-- pricing is only high enough to consume the available supply of a commodity _given the costs of the commodity_. The taxes are part of these costs, as far as your local gas station is concerned.
Reduce those costs and lower prices will suffice to ensure consumption of the available supply.
And competition among the various gas stations will suffice to ensure that they don't all simply refuse to lower their prices.
Supply and demand isn't only about supply and demand-- cost, price, and competition are also critical factors. I don't believe a serious economist would ever say that one of these factors can change dramatically without affecting the other factors.
Although Baker has apparently spent quite a while studying and teaching economics, this piece shows he lets his political beliefs override even the simplest things he learned in school.
I'll say it again: Supply and demand isn't just a good idea. It's the law.
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