Technology on the way out the door

A list of 30 from MSN. My favorite:

29. Using proper grammar and punctuation

Status: On life support

txting and iming has made proper grammar seems kinda old skoo, dont u thnk? heres hoping 4 capitalization & punctuation 2 make a comeback in emails & other writing. the gr8 gatsby probly wuld hv been way less gr8 if it wuz written like this. lol

Politicians worried about appearances in the Netherlands

The simple solution to the problem outlined in this story about parsimonious posing in the Netherlands would seem to be to raise the salary of the prime minister. Lowering the salaries of others just drives the competent out of government.

Hat tip: Lars Skipper

Assorted links

1. Red Hot Lovers in Ann Arbor replaced by Ray's Hot Links. I have not been there yet but will go soon. I am also not sure of the relationship, if any, between the old and the new places, though apparently Ray's mostly reproduces the old menu.

2. With friends like these ... one more on terrible Ted.

3. On record stores in Ann Arbor.

4. The Economist asks Jim Manzi of National Review about global warming and about torture.

5. John Scalzi on design flaws in Star Trek.

A Chicago story

This is a story told about Theodore W. Schultz, who was for many years on the faculty at Chicago. During my time there as a graduate student I think he had already retired, but he would still show up at seminars from time to time and make smart comments. The story is in the form of bullet points as it comes from a talk given by another economist in honor of Schultz.

He [Schultz] was a very wise and kind man.

One lesson he taught me I carry to this day.

Chicago economics in the early 70s was a rough-house
environment. Browbeating and intimidation, especially
of students, were natural by-products.

Responding to this ethos when I first arrived, one day
I demolished a student’s work at a seminar where Ted
was present.

Later, Ted took me aside and told me that I had made
some excellent, helpful points.

But he also encouraged me to “remember that today’s
student is tomorrow’s colleague, and you will be together
in this profession for many years. Be kind and
they will remember.”

This advice actually extends more broadly. Economics is a very small world. Being nice, interested and respectful has a high payoff and, beyond that, is both more pleasant and the right thing to do.

Whole Foods and health care reform

Grant McCracken criticizes John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, for writing an op-ed in the WSJ advocating more market-oriented health care reform than is currently on the table. His concern is not with the substance of the editorial, but its potential to destroy shareholder value by alienating part of Whole Foods' customer base.

I agree with the reactions of Radley Balko and Megan McArdle in their reactions to the reactions (though, contra Megan, the ribs I had there last Friday were surprisingly good, and I like the salad bar too). But I also agree with Grant McCracken about Mackey's duty to the shareholders.

Nonetheless, it is disappointing to see the left reacting with boycotts, which is of course just the mirror image of the town meeting disrupters on the right. Neither actually engages with the ideas or the evidence that should underlie decisions about health care reform.

Oh, and must we use the Orwellian term "town meetings" to described these heavily stage-managed photo ops?

Health care cost reduction

Hard to see how one can reduce costs very much after making deals with the two largest input providers, namely the pharmaceutical industry and the American Medical Association.

Any serious health care plan ought to include big increases in the supply of physicians. The job of a GP is an important one, but not one that requires the heavy selection (in part on marginally useful skills like memorization and ability to function while sleep deprived) embodied in the current system. Better to have more doctors with a bit less hubris and a bit more willingness to rely on expert systems.

And, yes, I did just link to Robert Reich.

What my summer research assistant learned

I hired an undergraduate research assistant this summer, which I do not usually do, but I knew the student well from two classes and in the end it worked out well and was a lot of fun.

Here is her summary of the key lesson learned:

I think I learned the most important lesson of research: it never seems to go quite as well as you expect it will.

Indeed.