Booth School reunion

Megan McArdle tells about going to the reunion of her MBA class at Chicago Booth.

I liked this bit, about her time at Merrill Lynch:

"... I was not a good fit with Merrill's very conservative culture. I felt as if I'd decided to intern with a mathematically gifted baboon tribe, and I'm sure they were just as puzzled by me."

Probably I like it because it was from Merrill that I learned not to have a broker.

Life after the NFL

A feel-good story from the Seattle Times on what former Seahawks QB Jon Kitna is up to.

Hat tip: Ken Troske

The Economist on Romney

Wise words from the Economist on Mr. Mitt.

He is almost a movie parody of a candidate who wants to win based entirely on form rather than substance.

Assorted links

1. Waiting for Ditka.  Iron Mike's great year was my first year of gradual school.

2. Social scientists ignore religion at their peril.

3. That flushing sound is your tax dollars going down the toilet at Bongz and Thongz, closely preceded by the K2.

4. FT interview with Rufus Wainwright.

5. An optimistic view of the robot apocalypse.

Hat tip on #5 to Jess Goldberg.

Tyler's sobering thought

Tyler says:

The United States circa 2012 is one of the most productive economies of all time, arguably the most productive if you take into account size and diversification (rules out Norway, etc.).  Internationally speaking, in the richest and most productive global economy of all time, which is our most competitive sector?

Hollywood?  Maybe, but it could well be higher education.  Students from all over the world want to go to U.S. higher education.  If we had nicer immigration authorities, this advantage would be all the more pronounced.

In other words, I work in what is perhaps the most competitive and successful sector in the most competitive and successful economy of all time.

And yet what I see around me is a total, total mess.  And I believe my school to be considerably above average in terms of how well it is run.

Indeed.

For those wondering about the total mess part, here is a local example. Oy.

Assorted links

1. The dull life of an investment banker.

2. A gift for your friends from Kansas.

3. Michele Bachmann's God at the American Sociological Association meetings.

4. American Sociological Association versus Gencon

5. The aura of logical distortion from Ph.D. comics.

Hat tip on #1 to Charlie Brown and on #5 to Jessica Goldberg; #4 is via orgtheory.net.

This sounds really familiar ...

Via Arthur Robson on Facebook