Category Archives: Politics

Last week the Supreme Court insulted Puerto Rico by saying its people aren’t sovereign. This week the court added injury to the insult, denying Puerto Rico access to federal bankruptcy laws that would have created a path to recovery for … Continue reading →

It is right in front of Mar Chiquita.  Ruining the most beautiful place on the island. On Tuesday in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Zurab Tsereteli’s huge sculpture of Christopher Columbus was inaugurated.  At 350ft, Birth of a New World is not … Continue reading →

They find GDP tends to grow much faster under Democratic presidents (averaging 4.33% per year) than Republican presidents (averaging 2.54% per year)….The authors find two important factors that might be expected to matter but don’t: fiscal policy and monetary policy. … Continue reading →

The Returns to Medical School: Evidence from Admission Lotteries Nadine Ketel Edwin Leuven Hessel Oosterbeek Bas van der Klaauw American Economic Journal: Applied Economics vol. 8, no. 2, April 2016 (pp. 225-54) Abstract: We exploit admission lotteries to estimate the … Continue reading →

The Federal Reserve has abandoned hope of raising interest rates at its next meeting in June, but Fed officials say they are still thinking seriously about raising rates in July or September. Janet L. Yellen, the Fed’s chairwoman, who said … Continue reading →

An intro into the fundamentals of data analysis and visualization using Stata. Source: Stata Cheatsheets

I saw Crooked Timber recommend the novel so I rushed out and borrowed Ada Palmer’s Too Like the Lightning from interlibrary loan.  Yes, I can see the appeal. It is very dense, very intellectual, very imaginative.  The big “reveals” are … Continue reading →

I do not want to take anything away from Alex Haley. I watched Roots as a child (dubbed in Spanish!) and as a junior in college I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X straight through one summer.  I loved both. … Continue reading →

My recollection is that Ms. Christakis in some sense escalated by calling such an attempt to social norm a “transfer of power”… by invoking power, perhaps, a battle that did not have to be engaged was engaged.  But here I … Continue reading →

I am advising a student who is interested in exploring development issues in Kenya.  So here is a top-five list of books to read. David William Cohen and E. S. Atieno Odhiambo, Burying SM: The Politics of Knowledge and the … Continue reading →

Pavé de bonnes intentions, The Last Face réunit tous les poncifs et horreurs imaginables : l’exhibition de corps ensanglantés, découpés par des machettes, troués par des mitraillettes, des femmes violées jusqu’à la mort. Certes, Penn nous plonge dans un hôpital … Continue reading →

I was listening to some of the radio broadcast on NPR for Holocaust remembrance day, Thursday, and one of the survivors mentioned Kielce, as something that happened after liberation.  I had never heard of it, so was very surprised to … Continue reading →

When I was in college I read Zazie dans le métro, and remember quite liking it.  Some years ago I picked up Exercises de style, which should be read pretty much by anyone who claims to like literature.  So I … Continue reading →

My colleague Kris Mitchener reminded me that back in the 1840s there were state defaults on debt.  I had thought that that legal avenue had been closed to states.  I am no constitutional lawyer, and of course with all things … Continue reading →

Elliot Kevane, San Jose tennis: He won two matches in straight sets to complete an undefeated season at No. 1 singles as San Jose won its league championship. The link: http://www.mercurynews.com/high-school-sports/ci_29825356/high-school-sports-highlight-reel-top-performances-from  

I have been remiss in not regularly posting.  Here’s my suggestions for your leisure time. Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, that just won the Pulitzer Prize.  I read it about a month ago and enjoyed it. I think it has … Continue reading →

I love browsing, and sometimes I do too much of it.  Today, listening to Inti-Illimani mix on Youtube, next in the lineup was the song Vientos del Pueblo, written by Victor Jara, but sung here by Carlos Puebla.  Then since … Continue reading →

Only people of my generation and older find the expression, “Does that even work?” to be slightly odd.