Knowing and Making

Brad DeLong complains that Obama is cutting spending in next year's budget . Greg Mankiw complains that Obama is increasing spending in next year's budget . Fortunately there is no discrepancy here, because both of them are saying the same thing: the President isn't doing what I want him to, therefore he's wrong.

While the Americans don't want a British-style healthcare system, it seems that some Brits are very keen on American-style healthcare rhetoric. After Alan Duncan's hilarious outburst we now have Chris Ayres in the Times . Claiming that Obama should abandon his plans to replicate the NHS, in favour of a scheme that "combines the best of both systems". Now anyone who is listening honestly to the debate, or has looked at the healthcare bill being proposed, couldn't possibly think that Obama is proposing a universal, public-funded and public-supplied health sector. If anything, the main criticism of the proposal is it doesn't go far enough towards this goal. The main content is still a public insurance plan - no public ownership of hospitals or provision of services, and no single-payer system. If a British writer (based in the US) can't tell the difference between the US plan and the NHS, despite writing more than one article comparing them, why is he stil...

Just a pointer to an excellent article on management  by Daniel Davies, which fits nicely into the vision of my think tank, Intellectual Business . Thanks to Brad Delong for the pointer. Another article, this time on homo economicus and by Gavin Kennedy. I have started reading Kluge  and though it is not broadly speaking a book about economics, it still has some useful things to say for behavioural economists.

The Telegraph thinks America produces enough electricity to power one lightbulb for every 30 citizens. Huh? This article (about a powerful laser) says it produces "...energy equivalent to 1,000 times the amount produced by America's national grid, or more than 10 billion times more than an ordinary household lightbulb." A bit of simple arithmetic indicates that the national grid can power 10 million light bulbs. Which, with 300 million people, means it must be pretty dark most nights. Actually, the laser has a power of 500 trillion watts - which means nearly 10 trillion  60-watt lightbulbs. But if you let loose on science stories journalists with no instinct for arithmetic... The crucial question that goes unanswered by the article is, of course: will it create a black hole that could destroy the Earth? I say we should shut down all scientific research until we are sure. As Brad DeLong might say: " Why, oh why, oh why... "

Brad DeLong has solved the financial crisis (co-opting the help of Keynes, Bernanke, Trichet, Brown, King, Geithner and Summers). I must admit the conclusion he came to was not the one I expected. Note particularly that: he disagrees with me on crowding-out - he thinks there is still net business investment to be crowded regardless, he believes that business investment will not be a substantial source of demand in the near term That's a bit disappointing, if he is right. I was hoping for a more positive outcome but I suppose that's why it's called a depression.