EclectEcon

Fundy Colours"Blueberry Fields Forever"

On a recent trip through the Bay of Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, we were struck by fields of various burgundy colours (not to mention the frigg'n snow that was falling during the last week of April!). It turns out these are blueberry bushes.

The Deterrence Effect of Fines:The Bridges of Madison County New Brunswick

As I have often said, economics can be summarized in four words:

People respond to incentives.



And it makes sense that back before these bridges became historical sites, if people didn't want others to ride their horses on the bridge, they would levy a fine.





The Sawmill Creek Bridge







The signs are clearly reproductions of the originals, but it is fun to see them. Why did it matter so much to the bridge proprietors (typically county gubmnts) whether someone drove or walked their team of horses across the bridge?

Shopping for Eyeglasses, Part II

I recently read about a place called Zenni Optical, where you can order eyeglasses for unbelievably low prices over the internet. How unbelievable? as low as $8 for a pair of prescription glasses including both the lenses AND the frames. The company appears to be based in California, but that site merely takes the orders and transmits them to China, where the glasses are actually produced.



When I mentioned the place to Jack, he did some searching and found seriously bi-modal reviews of the place. Many people loved them. At the same time, many people hated them. The major complaint is that if the glasses didn't have the right prescription, it is nearly impossible to get glasses with the correct prescription sent in their place; you're just out the money.



Also, they do not produce lined trifocals (though they do produce both progressives and lined bifocals).



Since it is time for me to update the prescriptions in some of my glasses, I decided the potential saving would outweigh the risk of placing an order with them. Also, they charge the same total amount for shipping, regardless of how many pairs of glasses you order at one time. I ordered four pairs of glasses; three different types for me and one for my older son, David Ricardo Palmer. Shipping time was about what they had said it would be — three weeks or a bit less.

1. My son says his glasses are fine. He is not as happy with the style of the frames as he had hoped he would be, and this is one disadvantage with buying glasses online. The site has considerable detail about sizes, colours, and styles, but it is not the same thing as trying the frames in the showroom of an optician.
2. I ordered one pair of glasses with just my distance vision prescription. I refer to these as my "bedtime glasses" because I wear them in bed so I can see the tv, something wearers of bifocals and trifocals cannot do easily because the bottom portion of their lenses is usually for close-up, not distance vision. These glasses were $8, including some frames with spring-loaded temples, and seem just fine. I had nothing special done to the lenses, so these were the very basic model, and they seem like a fantastic bargain. The new prescription is certainly better than the old one that I had been using for over a decade.
3. My intermediate vision glasses (for when I play French horn in the band) are fine, too. The focal point is about 5” closer to me than I might have liked, but that’s a (very minor) problem with the prescription, not the glasses. For these glasses, I ordered thinner lenses, transition lenses (photo-gray) and anti-reflective coating for when we play outside; I also selected some slightly more expensive ($20, not %8) unusual rimless frames. Because I got more expensive frames and extras with the lenses, the price of this pair was about $55. The price for my first two pairs of glasses at even a discount optician in London, ON, would easily have been around $300 - $400 or more. My son's would have been about $350.
4. I also ordered a pair of full progressive glasses, just like the ones I had ordered from a London optician [see my previous posting about shopping for eyeglasses]. As I said earlier, I am not terribly keen on progressives because they have too narrow a field of vision. I ordinarily would get tri-focals, but Zenni doesn’t do trifocals, so I decided to try their progressives. The actual clear-vision “post” is still too narrow to suit me (I have to move my head to read this small computer screen when wearing those glasses), with some intriguing distortions outside the post. But the field of vision with the Zenni progressives is, if anything, a bit wider than that of the progressives I ordered locally. Progressives, transitions, thin lenses, anti-reflective, neato rimless frames - $97. These will become backup glasses.
   
   
   
   My local monopolist optometrist would probably charge about $900 - $1200 or more for the same three pairs of glasses; I paid about $170 for all three. So overall I’m pleased. But please note that I have no idea how good the lense material is, and I realize that not everyone has been happy with their orders from that outfit.

The Latest in PLO Chic

Something to decorate the office? [h/t JohnM via BenS]



The article is a bit dated, and I wonder whether it is even an issue any more. But in true Philistine Liberation Organization style, one of the commenters writes,

How exactly does what I watch, what I drink and What I listen to make me inferior to you? I watch NASCAR, sure its dumb, cars going around in circles but I enjoy it and that isnt hurting anyone. What do you watch? Opera? Ballet? Those dont hurt anyone either, but I fail to see how they are better then NASCAR. I drink Bud out of a can, its cheap, I like it, it is made in my state. Does your sipping a cosmo somehow elevate you above me? Are we not both still consuming alcohol? If we drink too much do we not both get intoxicated? As for Limbaugh, well, I dont listen to him either, but Im sure youd blanch at the country station presets on my radio, just as I would skip over your world music or indy rock or whatever you listen to. So we are different and have different tastes, how exactly does that make you better than me?

Shopping for Eyeglasses, Part I

I have worn tri-focals for about a decade. My eyes aren't all that bad (I can pass the driving test without glasses), but they don't adjust to different distances all that well; hence the trifocals.



After my most recent eye examination, both my optometrist and Ms. Eclectic suggested that I should re-consider getting progressives — trifocals that have no lines on them; they don't have three distinct viewing areas but instead have a progressive change from top to bottom. The two advantages of this type of lens are that (1) there is no line or abrupt change in the prescription from one portion of the lens to another, and (2) by slightly tilting your head up or down you can always find an angle at which things are in focus, regardless of how far they are from you.



The major disadvantage of progressives is that because of the physics/optics, it is impossible to make the lenses so that you can see much to the sides of what you are looking at; the field of vision is very narrow. I had tried progressives when I first got bifocals and hated them because I had to pivot my head from side-to-side to read a newspaper. I was assured, though, that newer designs meant that the field of vision is much wider now.



My local monopolist optometrist initially quoted me a price $530 just for new lenses (I like the rimless titanium frames I'm using and see no need to replace them). They also said that lined trifocals would cost about the same amount. And they guaranteed that if I didn't like the progressives (with transition lenses that go darker in the sunlight and and and, etc.), I could change to trifocals at no charge.



I was about to place the order with them when they called and said they'd made a mistake: the price would be $630, not $530. Okay. That seemed a bit steep, but mistakes happen. [I must say, though, that most businesses that give you a quote honour it even if they make a mistake like this.]



I then asked whether, if I didn't like the progressives, I would get a $100 refund if I switched back to the lined trifocals. The person I was speaking with said she'd never been asked that before, but she checked with others and said that yes I would.



The next day I received ANOTHER phone call from their office telling me that she was new there and had answered incorrectly (despite having checked with others) and that if I ordered progressives, the price would $630 even if I switched back to lined trifocals.



By this time I was beginning to feel jerked around. This optometry company has about five optometrists working in it with offices in two of the local towns. I don't know of any other dispensing opticians within a 20-mile radius of where I live. Due to their locational advantage and their aggressive expansion [shades of Alcoa? or perhaps this is a better reprise of the Alcoa case.], they have some degree of market power. But not so much that they can irritate me as much as they did.



So I went to an optician in London, ON, with my prescription [London is about an hour's drive from the small town where we live, and I go there maybe once every week or two, even when I am not teaching at the university there.]. Their price? $420, with the same guarantee that I can switch back to lined trifocals at no charge if I don't like the progressives. So I placed the order.



I now have the progressives. I'm not thrilled with them. When I get a chance, I will probably return them and get lined trifocals. With these new progressives, not even the entire 12.1" screen on my small laptop is in focus from side to side. The field of vision is still too narrow to suit me.



Next week: Other options when there appears to be a local monopoly: ordering glasses from China.

De-Stressing:Reducing the Stress in Our Lives

Many people find that one way to reduce stress in our day-to-day lives is to sit around and pop the bubbles in bubble wrap. One problem is that doing so can be annoying for the people around you; also, once the bubbles are all popped, the stress can accelerate.



So here, courtesy of BenS (he says it is sponsored by Ritalin, but I don't believe him) is a virtual sheet of bubble wrap for you to pop. I find the "manic" version especially satisfying.

Would You Fly to Singapore for Medical Treatment?

What if it were covered by your health insurance plan?



From Health Leaders Media (h/t to Acad Ronin):

South Carolina-based Companion Global Healthcare added three Singapore hospitals to its network. The deal now allows Americans access to medical and surgical services at ParkwayHealth operated hospitals at pre-negotiated, in-network rates lower than those of U.S. hospitals.



The deal between ParkwayHealth and Companion Global Healthcare is a step in the maturation of the medical travel industry, notes David Williams, consultant and cofounder of MedPharma Partners LLC.



“Conceptually, hospitals halfway around the world will now have the same status to members as those just down the street, so that’s a big step,” he said. “It may be a bit of a wake-up call to the local hospitals in South Carolina, putting them on notice that they are facing a broader set of competitors.”

Upon reflection, if the gubmnt insurance in Canada used the savings to pay my way for a holiday in Singapore, I might consider going there for many procedures....but not for such things as lithotripsy, where the flight itself could be pretty agonizing.



Of course this will never happen in Canada, where the gubmnt insurance would face political backlashes if they started shipping patients to Singapore. Educating politicians and voters about comparative advantage seems like an impossible dream, as we witnessed with Obama and Clinton during the Pennsylvania primary.



But in the private sector, look for more of this type of health care in the future, especially among insureres who offer their clients some flexibility in their health care plans.

New Recruit for York University!Most Likely the Department of Hydraulic Socionomology

About a month ago, I mentioned that a student in my introductory economics class had sent me e-mail expressing concern because I frequently said insulting things about York University and the students there. She also objected to my spelling of gubmnt. I never met this student, and I also have no idea what she looks like (she was one of 350 in the class).



Today my teaching assistant sent me the grades for the class. My correspondent earned a mark of 39 (out of 100, not out of 40 as one person wondered). I figure she's a prime candidate for York's Sociology department. Jack figures she's likely to sue me for discrimination.

Busy-ness and Blogging

As I'm sure you have noticed, my blogging has been light (and will continue to be for the next couple of weeks). Life is busy.

Sectoral Shifts in the North American Economies

Quite frankly, with unemployment rates at or near 60-year lows in the US and Canada, it is hard for me to get worked up about the transfer of manufacturing output from North America to the Asian economies. It looks to me as if we are amazingly flexible and resilient, for the most part, as our economies adapt to the changes in trade and to the reflections of different input prices in different economies. From Cafe Hayek,

From Robert Samuelson's column in [the] Washington Post:

From 1998 to 2007, total non-farm payroll employment [in the U.S.] rose 12 million, and unemployment averaged only 4.9 percent -- despite the 4 million lost factory jobs. In that period, U.S. manufacturing output rose 22 percent.

More evidence of the sectoral shift comes from Steve Poloz:

Autos and parts remain the second-largest export sector for Canada, at just over $70 billion in 2007. Energy exports have leapt into first place, generating revenues of nearly $92 billion in 2007. Close behind autos is exports of services – tourism, financial services, engineering and professional services, and so on – at nearly $68 billion.

Efficient Coffee Drinking

I am not much of a coffee connoisseur. I cannot tell the difference between Dunkin' Donuts, Tim Horton's, or any other run-of-the-mill cafe's coffee. I can tell the difference between those standard coffees and the coffee from Starbucks, but I don't much care which I drink. I expect this lack of concern about coffee differences affects my attitude toward coffee drinking. And just so you know this is a true lack of concern, I tend to drink my coffee black, not double-double, which seems to be the favourite of most Canadians.



I drink coffee with a straw. I realize that most take-out coffee comes with a lid that has a tear-up section or pre-punched hole to drink through, and that these lids help prevent spills. But I'm still perfectly capable of spilling coffee when I drink it from the cup. So I stick a straw through the hole.



Some years ago, Ms. Eclectic and I realized that if we drink coffee through a straw, it is much less likely to spill, especially when we are in the car, driving down the road.



And a real bonus of drinking anything through a straw while driving is that your vision of the road is never obstructed. You don't tip the cup or can or bottle up in front of your face when you drink through a straw — you can always keep your eyes on the road and the traffic when you drink coffee (or anything else, for that matter) through a straw in the car (and to head off the likely questions, no I do not and I do not advocate drinking beer while driving, nor have I tried drinking beer through a straw).



Drinking coffee through a straw has become such a habit for me now that I usually drink it that way, even if I'm sitting down at Tim Horton's. Using a straw also avoids the ugly dribbles and stains that run down the side of a porcelain cup.



It has a lot to recommend it, but I still haven't screwed up the courage to ask for a straw at higher end restaurants.

Even in Texas?

Much of south Texas avoided the housing bubble experienced in other major markets. I suspect that one reason is land is plentiful and the expressway system is well-developed, so people think nothing of living 20-30 miles outside the beltway, where land is quite inexpensive.



But in missing the bubble, one might have expected that Houston would also miss the downturn in the housing market being experienced elsewhere. But, then again, maybe not. This photo was taken earlier this week while I was visiting my son in Houston:

Earth Hour

I hope everyone who thinks/thought Earth Hour was a good idea will turn off all their appliances that use electricity between 2pm and 3pm each day for a week in August. In fact, why not turn them off from 1pm until 5pm?



Meanwhile, I hope more of these same people will begin to understand the importance of using time-of-day/time-of-year metering for electricity use, with higher rates during periods of peak use. But watch these same people whine about how unfair it is to jack up prices for the poor and about how unfair it is to jack up prices for things people "need".

Curling in a TuxedoEclectEcon Ends the Season in Style

The final bonspiel of the season, the Spring Thaw:







Update: The top two photos were from Friday night's draw. The next two are from the Saturday morning draw. Note the morning coat and burgundy (vs. black) cummerbund and tie; the shirt is pink, but was washed out by the flash.







Update #2: And from the evening draw, my Hawaiian dinner jacket.

More fun math answers

I had seen these before and was delighted when Judith sent them to me:

Northern vs. Southern Women

My friend Anita lived and now lives in Michigan, but for many years she lived in Atlanta. Here's her reaction to my earlier posting about southern vs. northern women:

I can tell you first hand what the difference is in Northern and Southern gals. After moving south, I had to learn how to dress.



Living in Atlanta for several years and coming back north once a year, my husband and I could plainly see the difference. On one such visit, we landed in Grand Rapids (Michigan) and stayed the night at a hotel. In the morning I looked at the people there having brunch and said, " Look at these women! They are colorless !!" The women were all dressed in mainly solid browns, blues and grays. There was nothing outstanding about the design of their clothing. They only wore a trace of make up and nothing flashy in the way of earrings and jewelry. And plain shoes. It was summer !!! Were these woman not pretty? I think they were not using what they had.



Southern gals just know that if one is good, two is better and three is better yet. They go for the total package look from a very young age and time and effort is put into looking nice. Little girls have ribbons and accessories for their hair and there it starts.



The difference in using make up is night and day. The vast majority of Southern gals wouldn't go anywhere without make up. If the Northern gals put on a light coat of mascara they are doing good. With Southern gals, if the jewery isn't big enough to be seen at an arms length, it isn't worth having including earrings and a diamond engagement ring.



Just sitting in the parking lot of a Michigan Wal-Mart vs the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Fayetteville, Georgia tells it all. Michigan gives gals in jeans, printed tee-shirts, dirty white running shoes, little or no make up or jewery. In Fayetteville, the girl can be wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, but the tee is tucked in, she has a cute belt, her shoes are dressier, her hair is done, she has make -up on and a showy pair of earrings. Is one girl better looking than the other?? All things being equal, the Southern gal is more pleasing to look at.



The shoes that are offered in the South are so much nicer than the ones in the North. While living in Atlanta, I bought some really stylish shoes ...... soft green suede, suede and snake skin heals in eggplant color, multi color leathers of teal, tan and coral with satin ribbon ties. I haven't seen such offered in this area. They most likely wouldn't sell.



To conclude. Southern gals have a more polished look.

Is It Time to Shut Down CBC2?

Last week, Ron sent me a copy of a mass e-mailing urging people to sign an on-line petition to protest recent changes to CBC Radio 2:

On March 19, 2007, CBC Radio 2 cancelled its excellent evening classical music programming, and the immensely informative Arts Report, and the award-winning Two New Hours. We consider that with these changes the management of our only national public broadcaster has compromised its tradition of providing stimulating and informed programming. We also believe that these changes are not consistent with the CBC mandate and the recent UNESCO treaty on cultural diversity.



The public voices of many dedicated and world-class Canadian writers, hosts, composers, producers and artists are being muted. If the changes are allowed to stand and the trend to continue, the CBC will have entirely squandered its unique capacity to represent the arts, with their inherent qualities of complexity, depth and order.



We, the undersigned, believe the new programming is a retrograde step, one that duplicates material readily available on other stations and compromises the cultural integrity of our public broadcaster. We respectfully insist that the current programming changes to Radio 2 be revisited, and the damage reversed by reinstating the type of intelligent, provocative and informative programming that has long been a hallmark of Radio 2.

My reaction to the changes was a bit different. First, I have always hated the so-called "arts report"; it is usually a collection of special pleadings from the arts community for more gubmnt support.



Second, I have been delighted that CBC Radio 2 has cut waaayyy back on its newscasts. There's no good reason for both CBC1 and CBC2 to run long newscasts, and given the biases of CBC news, the less news the better.



Third, I rarely listen(ed) to CBC2 at night. But I'm certainly willing to give up evening classical music if that means we can also get rid of the arts report.



Further, with web radio and satellite radio, there is far less reason to have the taxpayers of Canada support the performance and broadcast of classical music. CBC2 has traditionally represented a distinctly non-egalitarian redistribution from the taxpayers at large to elitist snobs. But with these technological developments, those of us who want to listen to classical music can easily pay for it and find it ourselves.



While we're at it, why don't we just shut down all of CBC Radio 2 and sell off their broadcast frequencies and equipment?



Related Digression: The television coverage of the World Curling Championships on CBC has been far less than satisfactory.

Fun with Brazilian Tattoos

via Jack,

1. GO TO THE FOLLOWING SITE : http://www.tatuagemdaboa.com.br/





2. TYPE YOUR FIRST NAME ON THE 1st LINE.





3. TYPE YOUR LAST NAME ON THE 2nd LINE.



(Skip your email addresses.)



4. Click on Vizualizar (on your left) and watch what happens.

Great Photo

I didn't take it. I don't know who did, or I would be happy to give credit. Jack sent it to me, and I thought it was fascinating.

Self-Control

Despite how worked-up I get sometimes over the policy proposals of arrogant left-wing elitist interventionists, I have managed to control my language on this blog pretty well:

Created by OnePlusYou



According that website, I have cussed less than 94% of the blogs that have taken the test. Compare that with Rondi who, by comparison, swears like a trooper.



I figure the comments must affect the count. Why else would MR have a score of 6.6%? And there must be something wrong with the cuss counter if Phil got a zero.

The Commodification of Sex"It sure beats lawn bowling fees."

From the National Post [h/t to Jack]:

Sex for pay is such a sober exercise that there are Web sites where escorts are reviewed like restaurants. The reviews usually focus less on the sex act and more on attitude, punctuality, conversation and even cuddling. ...



Most of the johns describe themselves as businessmen who regard hiring a sexual partner as a practical means of avoiding the time-wasting, emotionally precarious and often futile practice of working the bars in the vague hope of hooking up. In place of sloppy pick up lines, leaden conversation, booze-greased couplings and regret filled departures, they order up sex like Chinese food. The money assures the act is scheduled to the hour and, most importantly, that both parties are willing and enthusiastic. I know of one man who actually included weekly escort visits as a line item in his retirement plan. It sure beats lawn bowling fees.

Grew-some Growth

When I left a comment at Bill Polley's blog yesterday and then posted more about the Solow growth model, I didn't expect to set off a barrage of discussion, but here's more fuel for the fire.



First, let me make clear (I would hope this would be unnecessary for Bill and Gabriel) that I have had correspondence with both Bill (anyone who takes up curling must be a good guy) and Gabriel off and on over the the past year or three, and I have enjoyed every bit of it. Mike I've known for off and on for over a decade and I have great respect for his intelligence and knowledge. Gavin's blog is a superb resource that helps highlight the insights that Adam Smith's work continues to provide.



Second, the basics of economic growth are extremely important: consumption uses scarce resources that cannot then be available for producing capital goods; saving allows investment, which means more will be available for consumption in the future. We all (I hope) teach something like this in our intro courses when we show that saving today shifts the production possibilities frontier outward for the future.



With those points made, I have two basic responses to Gabriel, Bill, Gavin (who also questions the teaching of the Solow growth model), Mike (who quite obviously did not take a course in law and economics from me) and anyone else who might have entered the fray.



1. Learning the Solow growth model just so I can learn more complex growth models that have little, if any, more relevance for the real world makes no sense to me. I remember all the papers of the late 60s and early 70s about "optimal growth", "turnpike theorems", etc., and they not only seemed pointless then, but I wonder if society would have been better off using them as mulch for people's roses.



2. More seriously, too many policy makers of the 60s and 70s used the Solow growth model (and its progeny) to justify throwing capital at developing countries, saying, "All they need is more capital to get above the minimum threshhold..." and of course the capital was rarely, if ever, used productively in those situations.



The best growth model, if you can call it that, I have seen says to create institutions that provide freedom of contract and let markets work smoothly (for example, see the work by Tim Harford and "Doing Business", which, a la the econ/law literature, emphasizes the importance of reducing transaction costs). We don't need the mathematical growth models; in fact, I wonder if they have a negative social product (other than the sorting mechanisms I mentioned in my original posting).

Why Teach the Solow Growth Model?

Recently I posed this question at Bill Polley's blog. I was serious and not trying to be flip. When I was a student, the Harrod-Domar growth models never made a lick of sense to me, and the Solow model seemed sterile and useless. Bill replied,

Same reason we teach the Ricardian model of comparative advantage.



Even though it oversimplifies reality to nearly the point of absurdity, it contains many useful insights that are vital to understanding more sophisticated models and policy discussions.



It introduces a way of organizing one's thinking about the topic at hand. (Growth accounting, in Solow's case... a very important concept.)



It is a touchstone in the literature for an entire field. One cannot be considered to be educated in that field without an understanding of it.



It can be augmented and extended fairly easily to obtain more interesting and potentially useful results.



Despite all that, we know that it is a bit too simple to be the only tool in our arsenal. Indeed, to use it as the only tool in our arsenal would be dangerous.



Would not each of these statement apply to the Ricardian model as well as the Solow model?

Maybe. And Bill sure knows more about this stuff than I do, so he's probably right.



But when I look at countries that have grown rapidly and countries that haven't grown rapidly, it seems to me that things like prices and interest rates, along with institutions, property rights, transaction costs, and entrepreneurship are much more important than exogenous technical change.



Yes the models are are a good exercise. Yes the models are a great seive for filtering the students and putting them through the hoops. But I really don't think the models are worth spending much (any?) time on.



Recently a colleague asked me if I teach anything about growth in my intro course. I replied that I teach nothing explicit about growth theories, but I do teach the Coase theorem and the importance of property rights and transaction costs in understanding exchange and growth.



In contrast, Ricardian comparative advantage lies at the heart of exchange; some would argue it is the only argument we have in favour of free trade. It is indeed based on heroic assumptions, but in many instances these assumptions do not detract from the usefulness of the concept. And at least comparative advantage depends on such basic concepts as opportunity costs and relative prices.

More on Fitna, the movie

I confess. I have not seen Fitna, the movie. Having read some reviews, I don't really care whether I see it. I doubt if it is a very good movie or a very bad movie. But I'd rather read blogs or watch CSI on television.



If you really want to see it, there are lots of sites hosting it even though threats from Muslim extremists caused LiveLeak to remove it from their site.



Nevertheless....



As when the Danish cartoons caused so much violence among Islamic extremists, I am once again appalled and deeply concerned about the clash between their perceptions of their religion and the heretofore sacrosanct western ideals of freedom of speech. I am equally appalled that Canada's embarrassment to the world, Louise Arbour, has once again spoken out against freedom of the press and in favour of appeasing terrorists. Here is a letter my friend Eva sent Ms. Arbour:

I have just read that you have condemned the movie, "Fitna".



Have you seen it? I doubt it. I have seen it because I took advantage of the opportunity to watch it during the short number of hours it was shown on a web-site. I knew that the time would be short and, of course, threats have been made to the lives of the people who posted the film on the internet and they have been obliged to withdraw the film.



If you had seen it, you would know that the film consists of exact extracts from the Koran. Yes, the verses are very bloody and full of hate, but Wilders didn't invent the verses. What he did was to show that there are powerful, murderous sectors of the Islamic world who take the inflammatory, incitement contained in the verses very literally indeed. The verses were accompanied by newsreel shots of the incitement being carried out in the real world, by Islamic militants, not by Mr Wilders. The newsreel shots were originally broadcast on AL Jazeera, the BBC and other media outlets. You didn't complain then, did you?



Aren't you addressing your moralistic fervour in the wrong direction? Aren't you blaming the messenger and not the originators of the worldwide hate, blood, gore and mayhem? Admit, you are terrified of the true violators of human rights and turn your anger to those who point it out. If you were truly concerned with human rights you would speak out against the atrocities committed in the name of Islamic extremism.

A Miracle of Market Forces?

I have moved about a thousand times. Each time I have bought new shower curtains and new shower-curtain rings. You know what? Every single time, the number of rings in a standard package has exactly matched the number of holes in the shower curtain. Amazing co-ordination, wouldn't you say?



Please, please, don't tell me there's some gubmnt regulation requiring that there be a specified number of holes in a shower curtain and the same number in a package of shower rings.



Addendum: See this by Bryan Caplan, pointing out how responsive markets are to minorities' interests. Contrast his piece with the attacks on economic pluralism launched by the elitist, interventionist east-coast liberal establishments who concocted the excess capacity theorem and other travesties that are perilously related to life in the Soviet Union under communism.

Half a Million

I see the sitemeter for EclectEcon just passed half a million. That's the number of separate page views this blog has had since the hit counter was first installed, shortly after I began writing the blog back in November, 2004.



I can't tell for sure, but it looks as if the 500,000th visitor was someone searching the internet, either for the Nude Magic video or for the Nude Curling Calendar.