stusblog

On Hiatus

2006-05-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

It is stating the obvious to say that I haven't spent much time blogging lately. There are basically three reasons.

1. A lack of time. With finals, a child who has spent too much time home sick from day care, and research related activities, I haven't had the time to blog. As finals have ended and the boy is healthy, this is probably a temporary problem.

2. A lack of inspiration. There are

NBA Playoffs

2006-04-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Picking this year's first round of the NBA Playoffs is made more difficult by the fact that I have watched very little professional basketball this year in the wake of the horrible season by the Knicks (I would guess they had the lowest winning percentage per payroll of any team in professional sports history). It is made easier by the fact that only six teams have won an NBA title in over 20

Rumsfeld and Iran

2006-04-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

There has been much coverage in the past several weeks about the severe criticism of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld by former generals. This criticism presents a particular problem for the Administration which hinges its credibility and Republican election hopes on the premise that they know what they are doing in the War on Terror. Criticisms from generals will resonate much more than

The Opportunity Cost of Iraq

2006-04-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

When I teach my students about benefit cost analysis, I tell them that the hardest cost to measure is opportunity cost. Knowing the opportunity cost of an action involves knowing or assuming something about the state of the world if the action wasn't taken. For example, the opportunity cost of complying with an environmental regulation is the benefits that would have been achieved had firms

On Immigration

2006-04-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

Last week I wrote a post entitled "Public Policy is Hard." Nowhere is that banal statement more true than in the issue of immigration. Every decision has real costs and real benefits and affects thousands of real people's lives. The issue cuts in odd ways politically with Republican businesses and Democratic Hispanic groups allied against Republican cultural conservatives and Democratic unions.

National League Preview

2006-04-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

East:

Atlanta 91-71
New York 88-74
Philadelphia 86-76
Washington 65-97
Florida 58-104

A few years ago, after picking against Atlanta for a couple of years, I swore I would not do so again until they missed the playoffs. They haven't done me wrong yet. Edgar Renteria will have a bit of a renaissance in Atlanta and a strong lineup will carry them to victory. The Mets have everything riding on

American League Preview

2006-03-31T16:29:00.000-08:00

An odd imbalance has struck baseball. Arguably 5 of the best 6 teams in the majors are in the American League. The AL has swept the last two World Series and won the last six All Star games. This makes it harder to predict in both leagues as it is hard to imagine any of the top 5 teams in the AL not making the playoffs and hard to figure who the 4th team in the NL to make the playoffs should

Killing Daylight

2006-03-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

Our son has reached the age where he requires constant attention and energy. He is into everything particularly those things that he is not allowed to play with such as the modem wires, the garbage can, the refrigerator, and the toilet. Childproofing is a noble venture. However while we have placed gates on the stairs, doo-hickeys in the electrical sockets, and more things at a height of four

Public Policy is Hard

2006-03-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

Two articles in the Sunday New York Times gave me cause for depression about the extent to which government policy can achieve its objectives. Both dealt with cases of massive government policies which have at a minimum failed in their stated goals and in the case of the Iraq war, possibly made those goals even harder to achieve.

The Iraq case was highlighted for me in a review of Francis

EPA Rules Overturned

2006-03-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

Still catching up on the goings-on in the real world from last week. In one of the more important recent regulatory developments, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals overturned arguably the most significant regulation issued by the Bush Administration. (An article describing the case is here and the opinion itself is here.) While the Bush Administration will appeal either to the DC Circuit en banc