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"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
- Robert Putnam: The Man Who Counted What America Lost
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- Emily Oster: The Economist in the Delivery Room
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- Jim Goad (1961-2026)
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- The Pervert’s Progress: Costin Vlad Alamariu and the Making of Bronze Age Pervert
- Curtis Yarvin: A Life Against Democracy
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- John T. Jost: The Psychologist of Acquiescence
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- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
* People Leak To People Who Are Fun (6-11-26)
* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
* Show Me How It Travels (6-2-26)
* The Norm Explainers (6-2-26)
* Centering Marginalized Voices (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Financial Times put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for the Los Angeles Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for The New York Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* Why Wembanyama Lives on the Perimeter (5-31-26)
* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* Why Talent Travels Poorly Between San Francisco and Los Angeles (5-27-26)
* San Francisco and Los Angeles as Rival Models of Urban Access (5-27-26)
* Social Cliques in New York, 2026 (5-25-26)
* Social Cliques in San Francisco, 2026 (5-25-26)
* The Rival Courts of Washington (5-25-26)
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Category Archives: Economics
What Caused The Housing Boom And Bust?
Dennis Prager talked to economist Tom Sowell, 79, on Dec. 15, 2009 about his new book “The Housing Boom and Bust”. Dennis: “Who caused this bust?” Tom: “Government. The people who were forced directly to make the bad loans under … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Prager, Economics
Tagged community reinvestment act, community reinvestment act 1977, Dennis Prager, fannie mae and freddie mac, income minorities, tom sowell
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Reforming CA’s Tax System
Yisroel Pensack writes: A Chula Vista attorney has submitted a proposal to the California Attorney General’s office for a constitutional amendment that would overhaul the state’s tax system via the voter initiative and referendum process. Frank D. Walker, 58, the … Continue reading
Posted in California, Economics
Tagged annual incomes, california attorney general, income tax rate, state income tax, state income tax rate, voter initiative
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Writers In Trouble
John Scalzi writes: Writers are often attracted to other creative folks, including other writers. Nothing wrong with this in a general sense, mind you. We all love who we love, and what’s not to love about another witty, smart and … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
Tagged creative folks, finance skills, flakiness, john scalzi, poor finance
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I See No Hope For The Economy
It’s impossible to get a loan from a bank these days unless you have a credit score north of 700 and considerable documentable income. The debt securitization market provided about 60% of lending money over the past few years. It … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
Tagged commercial property loans, consumer loans, credit card loans, debt securitization, real estate securities, security markets
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Law Vs Medicine
A lawyer friend emails: Regarding my own experience, I’m a bit of a nerd, and I do not flash my money or drive an expensive car. Perhaps this is to my detriment. On the other hand, I did retire at … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
Tagged choices in life, drawing power, friend emails, healthcare reforms, lawyer friend, seven deadly sins, young doctors
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Using Keynes As A Crutch (get it?)
In a long piece in The New York Times Magazine called "How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?", Nobel Prize-winning economist and Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman tries to "explain" the current crash without analyzing the macroeconomic impact of land … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Henry George, New York Times, Paul Krugman
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Do Banks Discriminate Against White People?
I’m reading this new book by economist Thomas Sowell — The Housing Boom and Bust. For more than a decade, US newspapers have editorialized that banks are more conservative than they should be about lending money to blacks. The current … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
Tagged boom and bust, conventional home loans, economist thomas sowell, mortgage loan approval, Thomas Sowell, tom sowell
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Buying BJ Services For $5.5 Billion
I think the price is a little steep. From Yahoo Finance: NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc said on Monday that it would buy peer BJ Services Co for $5.5 billion in a move to take … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
Tagged baker hughes inc, bj services co, halliburton co, oilfield services company, schlumberger ltd, yahoo finance
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Why The Housing Boom Went Bust
I’m reading this new book by economist Thomas Sowell — The Housing Boom and Bust. He writes that "the idea that lenders would be offended by receiving monthly mortgage payment checks in the mail from blacks should at least give … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Thomas Sowell
Tagged boom and bust, checks in the mail, community reinvestment act, community reinvestment act of 1977, economist thomas sowell, Thomas Sowell
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Inside The Mortgage Meltdown
Check out the book on Amazon.com. Edmund L. Andrews writes that nobody duped him. He duped himself. He had covered all sorts of financial meltdowns as an economics reporter for the New York Times, but when he bought a home … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
Tagged amazon, free markets, home mortgages, mortgage meltdown, New York Times, tom sowell
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