Thursday, October 4, 2012

Miscellany

. Thursday, October 4, 2012

Haven't done one of these in awhile, but I'm in the throes of teaching, writing, and job hunt so my time is limited. I wish I could comment more substantively on each of these. Perhaps another time.

-- Credit where it's due: Stephen Walt has a good post on the advantageous geopolitical position of the U.S. right now. I've knocked him around a bit lately, but this one is right. I'm sure we'd differ on the reasons for this sustained advantage, but we agree with the conclusion.

-- UNC Poli Sci legend Tim McKeown is interviewed regarding the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, and helpfully nudges us away from romantic notions of the 13 days and towards a look at the broader political context. Also interesting: @missilecrisis62 is live-tweeting the events.

-- This new paper, by Julia Gray and Philip Potter, looks very interesting (but I haven't read it yet).

-- This fascinating CIA document (ht Sarah Bauerle Danzman) illustrates the many information asymmetries and commitment problems involved in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.

-- I'm going to try to do Marginal Revolution University's free online development economics course, but again that will depend on time.

-- Robert Skidelsky says that economic growth is not a sufficient condition for happiness. Perhaps. But I'd bet that it's a necessary one... if not then why all the concern about recent recessions and austerity drives? (Worse: here's what he says about the Easterlin Paradox: "Easterlin found no relationship between income and happiness above an average per capita income level of between $15,000 and $20,000. Other findings confirm Easterlin." But still others, more recent and with better data, have strongly contradicted him.)

0 comments:

Miscellany
 

PageRank

SiteMeter

Technorati

Add to Technorati Favorites