A Couple of Things

I realize that quite a lot has happened since the last real post on this blog. The past few months of living in the real world have allowed me significantly less time than I'd have liked to peruse my favorite blogs, to find and collect interesting stories, and most notably, to post them here. Not making this online project of mine much of a priority probably didn't help either.

Nonetheless, in my few free moments at the office, I've forwarded certain stories to myself to post to this site when the opportunity arose. Today, that opportunity has finally come.

The stories and sites that have most caught my eye ranged from politics to climate change to dollar inflation and, last but not least, to the unending fight between Keynes and Hayek. Obviously, one could also not miss the Brown victory in Massachussetts or the earthquake in Haiti, but too much has already been said on those matters for now. Here are a few bits to start, with more regular (and timely) postings to follow.

While I missed out on Climate-gate and don't feel the need to weigh in on one side or the other, this story in the UK's Daily Mail caught my eye as providing an intriguing alternative hypothesis to global warming. Despite a long-lasting commitment to the environment (sparked when I read The Berenstain Bears "Don't Pollute (Anymore)" in 1st or 2nd grade), I don't know whether to accept global warming as gospel or to be more of a skeptic. Expect more on the topic of climate change in the future.

In addition, two good pieces highlighted recently on Greg Mankiw's blog. The first, his piece for the New York Times on the potential inflationary picture facing the United States. Ordinarily, I'd offer my two cents on his analysis, but suffice it to say that I agree. Concise though it is, this piece sums things up quite neatly. The main inflationary risk right now appears to be the inevitably slow response from the Fed when the inflation mechanism (as Wall Street research calls it) gets back into place. The second piece, written for the Wall Street Journal by Martin Feldstein, discusses the recession, the response/stimulus, and the ongoing budget problems facing the United States.

Paul Krugman also offered a short note on the current state of the economy, which is worth taking a look at (being sure to follow the links).

AND OF COURSE, THERE'S THE BEST NEW ECON VIDEO OUT THERE, pitting archrivals John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich von Hayek against each other in what could be THEIR GREATEST BATTLE OF ALL TIME: