Piketty's Capital - A Review - Part 1

blip1944

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Monday May 12, 2014 · 11:33 AM PDT

2014/05/12 · 11:33

Paul Krugman calls it "the most important economics book of the year - and maybe of the decade. The New Yorker Magazine says it's a book that "nobody can afford to ignore." And not to be outdone in the kudos category, The New York Times Magazine says that its the "blockbuster economics book of the season."

What are they all raving about? Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century, a synthesis of analyses of national accounts done over the last fifteen years with a particular focus on the hot-button issue of income and wealth inequality. I'm going to write two reviews of the book, the second a detailed analysis of the methodology employed by Piketty and his colleagues, but go below the fold for a briefer comment on the basic assumptions that underlie the work itself.

blip1944

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Friday January 24, 2014 · 3:44 AM PST

2014/01/24 · 03:44

I always counted Richard Nixon as one of the two greatest fixers in American history; the other being the gambler Arnold Rothstein. Why were they great fixers? Because one tried to fix a World Series, the other a Presidential election.

Now comes along Chris Christie who's trying to use one of Nixon's gambits, the non-denial denial, to cover up a fix that he may or may not have tried to pull off, but it's coming apart at the seams. Let's go below the fold.

blip1944

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Thursday January 23, 2014 · 4:52 AM PST

2014/01/23 · 04:52

A few days ago I posted a diary about Chris Christie in which I called him a "fat schmuck" and the comment drew lots of criticism from the KOS readership because, as one of them pointed out, I shouldn't denigrate someone for their physical appearance that has nothing to do with their job performance. And that's true. After all, I wouldn't refer to Christie as a "cripple" if he walked around on one leg.
So I've thought over the criticisms, and I've taken down the pic of him stuffing a jelly doughnut into his mouth and I'd like to give everyone a different take on the whole Bridge affair if you'll go below the fold. Read More

The Scoop on Christie

blip1944

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Sunday January 19, 2014 · 5:43 AM PST

2014/01/19 · 05:43

Like everyone else in the "mainstream" media, the New York Times is desperate to keep Chris Christie alive, if only as a counter-weight to the Tea Party and to maintain the fiction that we still have a two-party system. But in their haste to help Fat Boy rebuild his brand, the Times published an article that was so stupid it deserves to be considered on its own for what it says and what it doesn't say. Let's go below the fold. Read More

Bloomberg Goes After Gun Traffickers: Does He Know Who He's Looking For?

blip1944

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Monday October 21, 2013 · 3:25 PM PDT

2013/10/21 · 15:25

Mike Bloomberg, soon-to-be former Mayor of New York City, has blanketed the airwaves and the internet since Sandy Hook with his campaign to stop gun trafficking. Although I can't find a strict explanation for what constitutes gun trafficking, I guess we can use the one found in H.R. 2554, the bill to prohibit firearms trafficking that was introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) that never got out of committee. The text of the bill says that trafficking is the transfer of a firearm to an individual:

whose possession or receipt of the firearm would be unlawful; or who intends to or will use, carry, possess, or dispose of the firearm unlawfully.

If you want to know what this means or doesn't mean, which is a polite way of asking whether Bloomberg, Maloney, et. al., knows what they're talking about, go below the fold. Read More

Want A Gun? Move To New York City

blip1944

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Sunday October 20, 2013 · 6:19 AM PDT

2013/10/20 · 06:19

If you follow the gun debate at all, you're aware of the fact that Mike Bloomberg, the soon-to-be ex-Mayor of New York City, takes credit for a steep decline in the city's crime rate due to his strict enforcement of the city's tough gun laws. But while this may mean that very few city residents own legal guns, research published by Gary Kleck (UCLA Law Review, #56, 2009) indicates that within another few years, the number of illegal guns may exceed the number of adults living within the city. Imagine that! The city with the toughest gun laws will also be home to the largest number of guns. How is that possible? Read below the fold. Read More

Understanding Crime - A Tale Of Two Cities

blip1944

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Thursday October 10, 2013 · 7:25 PM PDT

2013/10/10 · 19:25

After I published my last blog I received an email from Susan W: "So why does Chicago have such a high murder rate?" She's not the only one asking that question. Problem is that the answer isn't a single answer because there's no type of behavior that can be explained by one, single factor. In the preface to its report, the FBI lists thirteen factors that need to be taken into account, including economic conditions, culture, marital situations, crime reporting practices of the citizenry, population density, age cohorts, etc., etc., etc. And the report states that these are "some" of the factors that might influence crime levels.

Let's continue below the fold.

blip1944

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Wednesday October 09, 2013 · 5:29 AM PDT

2013/10/09 · 05:29

Chicago has always been known as the 'Second City' because it can't seem to compete with New York. But that's changed. The latest report on American crime released annually by the FBI, shows that when it comes to murder, Chicago now leads the list.

Since my diaries on crime seem to generate lots of bickering over the data, I want to make one thing very clear: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports are estimates because: 1) they are based on partial data; 2) they assume that every reporting department collects and analyzes its crime data in the same way. Nevertheless, the gap between murders in Chicago and everywhere else are so great that we can say with some degree of certainty that the Windy City has really stepped it up in 2012.

Let's go below the fold for details.

blip1944

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Tuesday October 08, 2013 · 5:15 AM PDT

2013/10/08 · 05:15

John Muir

Tap an environmentalist on the shoulder and they'll tell you that economic development is the death-knell of wilderness. But the history of the relationship between wilderness and progress in our country isn't that simple. Read below the fold. Read More

What Do We Do About Gun Homicide?

blip1944

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Sunday October 06, 2013 · 9:24 AM PDT

2013/10/06 · 09:24

At least two-thirds of the perpetrators who commit gun homicides are males under the age of 30. What else do these shooters have in common? They live in neighborhoods with overall high crime rates and low family income, they had previous contact with their victim, all facts that are well known. But there’s another commonality these shooters share which, as far as I can tell, isn’t mentioned in the discussions about gun violence and crime. Find it below the fold.

blip1944

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Thursday October 03, 2013 · 11:06 AM PDT

2013/10/03 · 11:06

That's Henry Clay, a Senator from Kentucky, who twice engineered political compromises that kept America from plunging into civil war. Unfortunately, he died shortly after the second compromise in 1850 and ten years later the war broke out anyway.

History doesn't repeat itself but we can learn from it - maybe. But maybe we are ten years away from a 21st Century repeat of what happened between 1850 and the bombardment of Fort Sumter.

Please go below the fold.

blip1944

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Friday September 27, 2013 · 9:52 AM PDT

2013/09/27 · 09:52

Don't believe for a second that the NRA is sitting back quietly after the Navy Yard massacre. They don't stop campaigning no matter what. And the way they do it is to get someone outside the organization to read from their script. Want to know who's doing it for them this week? Go below the fold.

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Piketty's Capital - A Review - Part 1

Christie Tries The Non-Denial Denial

I Was Wrong: Christie's Not A Fat Schmuck

The Scoop on Christie

Bloomberg Goes After Gun Traffickers: Does He Know Who He's Looking For?

Want A Gun? Move To New York City

Understanding Crime - A Tale Of Two Cities

It's Official! When It Comes To Murder, The Second City Is Now The First City

Wilderness Versus Progress: Is There Really A Conflict?

What Do We Do About Gun Homicide?

Where's Henry Clay When We Need Him Now?

Don't Think The NRA Is Being Quiet Since The Navy Yard