More procrastination today. This time, watching Ron Paul at Google:
It's so nice to hear a candidate for president talking about principles, and concrete proposals for change. If he gets the Republican nomination (and nobody who knows anything about the nomination process thinks he will), then I think I'll have to vote for him, even though I have the following misgivings:
I think he's wrong about Global Warming (see his answer to a question at around minute 38 of the video). I think there is a true market failure when it comes to global environmental issues. I think it makes sense to try to quantify the imbalance we're causing in carbon emissions, and then impose some kind of carbon tax, with the money going directly towards research, development, and/or deployment of carbon sequestration technologies. That said, I have almost zero faith that our current political system could possibly create a rational, effective system for fighting global warming that wouldn't degenerate into Yet Another "corporate welfare" system like our current agricultural price support system.
I'm also skeptical that he'd be able to actually get things done; I have a feeling our Senators and Representatives will not appreciate him vetoing every single pork-filled piece of legislation that they send to him to sign, and I have a feeling President Paul wouldn't suddenly be willing to compromise his principles if he found himself in the Oval Office. Maybe 4 years of total legislative gridlock in Washington DC would show us that we don't really need the Federal Government as much as we think we do. In any case, it would be a very interesting experiment!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Productive Procrastination: RailTrail map
I went for a ride on the Norwottuck Rail Trail this morning, and when I got home I was inspired to play with Google Maps "create your own map" feature to create an interactive map of the rail trail. I'm impressed with Google; after just a couple of minutes, I figured out the user interface and it was pretty darn easy to use.
Now I'm going to ask Mary Carey and the folks at the Norwottuck Rail Trail Online if it's OK that I "deep linked" to their images of the rail trail... (I did give them credit and the image descriptions link back to their sites).
Now I'm going to ask Mary Carey and the folks at the Norwottuck Rail Trail Online if it's OK that I "deep linked" to their images of the rail trail... (I did give them credit and the image descriptions link back to their sites).
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Toothpaste
According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, three local Amherst businesses had counterfeit, possibly dangerous, toothpaste on their shelves.
But we don't get to know which three businesses. The Health department is worried that revealing that information might hurt those local businesses.
Well, duh! That's how a free market is supposed to work. If you screw up, you get punished by the market.
Yes, it may not be the local business' fault. But it's their responsibility to make sure that the products they sell are safe. If they sell an unsafe product unwittingly because their distributor defrauded them, and they're financially damaged as a result, then they should be able to sue their distributor for fraud.
If there's no punishment for screwing up, then businesses have no motivation to do better.
Update, 11 July: Sanity reigns, and the names of the stores are released (Amherst MiniMart on College Street and Amherst Grocery on Main Street).
But we don't get to know which three businesses. The Health department is worried that revealing that information might hurt those local businesses.
Well, duh! That's how a free market is supposed to work. If you screw up, you get punished by the market.
Yes, it may not be the local business' fault. But it's their responsibility to make sure that the products they sell are safe. If they sell an unsafe product unwittingly because their distributor defrauded them, and they're financially damaged as a result, then they should be able to sue their distributor for fraud.
If there's no punishment for screwing up, then businesses have no motivation to do better.
Update, 11 July: Sanity reigns, and the names of the stores are released (Amherst MiniMart on College Street and Amherst Grocery on Main Street).
Monday, July 02, 2007
Minimum wage, redux
I try really hard to keep an open mind, so when I ran across a reference to this recent Economic Policy Institute paper on the minimum wage, I read through it.
It seems logical to me that raising the minimum wage should either increase unemployment, or increase the number of people working for below minimum wage in the underground economy. Why? Well, do the thought experiment at an extreme-- raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour. What would happen?
McDonalds would get replaced by McVendo (a hamburger from a vending-machine place). WalMart would get replaced by a big warehouse store where you look up what you want in a catalog and then tell a robot to go fetch it for you.
Only the most expensive restaurants would be able to afford to pay waiters and waitresses; the rest of us would eat out in cafeterias.
And you'd illegally pay the kid down the street less than minimum wage to mow your lawn (oh, wait, you're probably doing that now...).
So: I was VERY surprised to see the above-mentioned paper, where they found no increase in unemployment in states that raised their minimum wage above the federal minimum (when compared to states that did NOT raise their minimum wage). Then again, I'm nowhere near qualified to figure out whether or not their statistical methods are valid (they sure sound impressive...). And, as far as I can tell, the paper wasn't published in a peer-reviewed economics journal (BIG red flag there).
But assuming that they got it right-- money doesn't magically appear out of thin air1, so when the minimum wage increases what DOES happen?
Possible clues from the paper:
I don't think they looked at whether increasing the minimum wage INCREASED the number of non-citizens. If it did, that might explain it-- more illegal workers taking jobs at below-minimum-wage rates.
Or:
The number of people making minimum wage is pretty darn small. Maybe employers cut back on raises a little bit for everybody making above minimum wage so they could pay the minimum-wage-teenagers a little more. Good if you're a teenager, I suppose.
I also wonder what they'd find if they looked at state's population growth. Did the states that increased the minimum wage lose low-wage workers to other states?
1Well, money is created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve, but that should affect all states equally.
It seems logical to me that raising the minimum wage should either increase unemployment, or increase the number of people working for below minimum wage in the underground economy. Why? Well, do the thought experiment at an extreme-- raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour. What would happen?
McDonalds would get replaced by McVendo (a hamburger from a vending-machine place). WalMart would get replaced by a big warehouse store where you look up what you want in a catalog and then tell a robot to go fetch it for you.
Only the most expensive restaurants would be able to afford to pay waiters and waitresses; the rest of us would eat out in cafeterias.
And you'd illegally pay the kid down the street less than minimum wage to mow your lawn (oh, wait, you're probably doing that now...).
So: I was VERY surprised to see the above-mentioned paper, where they found no increase in unemployment in states that raised their minimum wage above the federal minimum (when compared to states that did NOT raise their minimum wage). Then again, I'm nowhere near qualified to figure out whether or not their statistical methods are valid (they sure sound impressive...). And, as far as I can tell, the paper wasn't published in a peer-reviewed economics journal (BIG red flag there).
But assuming that they got it right-- money doesn't magically appear out of thin air1, so when the minimum wage increases what DOES happen?
Possible clues from the paper:
The minimum wage states... have fewer native-born citizens and more foreign-born citizens and non-citizens.
I don't think they looked at whether increasing the minimum wage INCREASED the number of non-citizens. If it did, that might explain it-- more illegal workers taking jobs at below-minimum-wage rates.
Or:
... the minimum wage is associated with higher wages for teenagers but an effect is not discernable for adults.
The number of people making minimum wage is pretty darn small. Maybe employers cut back on raises a little bit for everybody making above minimum wage so they could pay the minimum-wage-teenagers a little more. Good if you're a teenager, I suppose.
I also wonder what they'd find if they looked at state's population growth. Did the states that increased the minimum wage lose low-wage workers to other states?
1Well, money is created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve, but that should affect all states equally.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Home of the Brave?
I'm visiting Washington, D.C.
The last time I was here was waaaay back in 1988. I remember walking up the Capitol steps and looking out toward the Washington Monument.
Today there are ugly metal crowd barriers blocking the steps. And a security person perched up on top of the steps, looking down at you. Watching for suicide bombers, I suppose.
What happened to the Land of the Free? The Home of the Brave?
When did we become the Land of the Secure? The Home of the Wary? Security tightened after the Oklahoma City bombing, and then again after 9/11. It seems to me our reaction to terrorists should be "walk softly and carry a big stick." Big, visible changes like cancelling white house tours, blocking off roads, and security bollards everywhere must give would-be terrorists a warm-fuzzy feeling: "look what we accomplished!"
Of course, it's easy for me to say the politicians should suck it up and be brave in the face of potential terrorism; I don't live or work in a famous place that's a big potential target for terrorist attack. But I'd bet the risk of a Senator dying from a suicide bomb attack on the Capitol, even if there was just 1970's style security, is a lot less than the risk they'll die in a car accident travelling to or from D.C.
The last time I was here was waaaay back in 1988. I remember walking up the Capitol steps and looking out toward the Washington Monument.
Today there are ugly metal crowd barriers blocking the steps. And a security person perched up on top of the steps, looking down at you. Watching for suicide bombers, I suppose.
What happened to the Land of the Free? The Home of the Brave?
When did we become the Land of the Secure? The Home of the Wary? Security tightened after the Oklahoma City bombing, and then again after 9/11. It seems to me our reaction to terrorists should be "walk softly and carry a big stick." Big, visible changes like cancelling white house tours, blocking off roads, and security bollards everywhere must give would-be terrorists a warm-fuzzy feeling: "look what we accomplished!"
Of course, it's easy for me to say the politicians should suck it up and be brave in the face of potential terrorism; I don't live or work in a famous place that's a big potential target for terrorist attack. But I'd bet the risk of a Senator dying from a suicide bomb attack on the Capitol, even if there was just 1970's style security, is a lot less than the risk they'll die in a car accident travelling to or from D.C.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Olver's Pets
Let's see what my representative wants to spend our money on today:
$1,500,000.00 on the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. I'd rather the Nature Conservancy or some other private group take care of our wildlife conservation (the US government is the biggest polluter, after all-- seems like foxes guarding the henhouse)... but at least this IS federal money being spent on a federal project.
$150,000.00 on the William Cullen Bryant Homestead. Never been there. Looks nice.
$1,400,000.00 for the City of West Springfield, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for the Connecticut River Combined Sewer Overflow Clean-up. Hmmm. Seems like the people in West Springfield should be cleaning up their own, ummm, stuff.
I really want an RSS feed for all the earmarks that my senators and representatives are putting into all the spending bills (hmm, that could be an interesting summer project...)
$1,500,000.00 on the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. I'd rather the Nature Conservancy or some other private group take care of our wildlife conservation (the US government is the biggest polluter, after all-- seems like foxes guarding the henhouse)... but at least this IS federal money being spent on a federal project.
$150,000.00 on the William Cullen Bryant Homestead. Never been there. Looks nice.
$1,400,000.00 for the City of West Springfield, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for the Connecticut River Combined Sewer Overflow Clean-up. Hmmm. Seems like the people in West Springfield should be cleaning up their own, ummm, stuff.
I really want an RSS feed for all the earmarks that my senators and representatives are putting into all the spending bills (hmm, that could be an interesting summer project...)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Three years ago today...
Three years ago today I took the Oath of Citizenship in Boston.
I was born in Melbourne, Australia, but moved to the U.S. when I was a wee lad. My mum had applied for citizenship for me a couple of times when I was growing up, but the INS managed to lose the paperwork and/or lose track of us (we moved around a lot when I was growing up).
I liked being an "alien"-- it was just a random interesting fact about me, and besides not being able to vote, it didn't really affect my life much.
Then sometime in the 90's they made green cards expire once a decade or so. Up until that time, my green card was cute-- it had a picture of 5-year-old me on it. I hate dealing with bureaucratic nonsense, and figured I'd have less to deal with in the long run if I went ahead and became a citizen. Here's what the process was like for a white, professional, spotlessly-clean criminal record, been-living-here-for-25-years college graduate:
I sent in my citizenship application in 1996. Then waited.
After six months, I sent in the "hey, do you still have my paperwork?" form.
Then I waited.
After a year, I sent in the "hey, are you processing my application?" form again.
After a while I get a letter saying that I have to send in fingerprints. So, off to the local police station, get fingerprinted, get them to sign the appropriate paperwork, and send that in.
A couple months later-- get told that the fingerprints aren't good enough, I have to have them done again. Ok.... back to the local police office, they do it again, send them in.
Then more waiting. I was happy to get a letter in the mail telling me to show up at the INS office next Wednesday-- even though that meant a three hour round trip to the nearest immigration office. After waiting an hour for my name to be called, I spend about 10 minutes taking the citizenship exam and talking with a bureaucrat. I think the bureaucrat was an immigrant, too-- his english was a little hard to understand.
Now comes an interesting twist-- while waiting some more, we move from Wisconsin to Massachusetts. I fill out the form that tells them that I'm moving and send that in. Then send in a "hey, are you still processing my application?" form again (even though I'd never actually gotten a response to any of those, I figured it couldn't hurt).
I really hoped the move wouldn't mean I'd have to start the process all over again (I'd been waiting three years at this point). And Yay! I didn't! In January of 2004 I get a message from the BOSTON immigration office that I must drive to Boston (a 4 hour round trip...) and get my fingerprints taken AGAIN. Next Thursday. At 10:30AM.
Yes Sir, whatever you say, Sir. And I guess the third time was the charm-- because Lo and Behold, a Miracle! A short 4 months later I get a letter telling me to come to Boston in a few weeks for my naturalization ceremony.
And that's how I became a citizen on Flag Day, June 14, 2004.
I was born in Melbourne, Australia, but moved to the U.S. when I was a wee lad. My mum had applied for citizenship for me a couple of times when I was growing up, but the INS managed to lose the paperwork and/or lose track of us (we moved around a lot when I was growing up).
I liked being an "alien"-- it was just a random interesting fact about me, and besides not being able to vote, it didn't really affect my life much.
Then sometime in the 90's they made green cards expire once a decade or so. Up until that time, my green card was cute-- it had a picture of 5-year-old me on it. I hate dealing with bureaucratic nonsense, and figured I'd have less to deal with in the long run if I went ahead and became a citizen. Here's what the process was like for a white, professional, spotlessly-clean criminal record, been-living-here-for-25-years college graduate:
I sent in my citizenship application in 1996. Then waited.
After six months, I sent in the "hey, do you still have my paperwork?" form.
Then I waited.
After a year, I sent in the "hey, are you processing my application?" form again.
After a while I get a letter saying that I have to send in fingerprints. So, off to the local police station, get fingerprinted, get them to sign the appropriate paperwork, and send that in.
A couple months later-- get told that the fingerprints aren't good enough, I have to have them done again. Ok.... back to the local police office, they do it again, send them in.
Then more waiting. I was happy to get a letter in the mail telling me to show up at the INS office next Wednesday-- even though that meant a three hour round trip to the nearest immigration office. After waiting an hour for my name to be called, I spend about 10 minutes taking the citizenship exam and talking with a bureaucrat. I think the bureaucrat was an immigrant, too-- his english was a little hard to understand.
Now comes an interesting twist-- while waiting some more, we move from Wisconsin to Massachusetts. I fill out the form that tells them that I'm moving and send that in. Then send in a "hey, are you still processing my application?" form again (even though I'd never actually gotten a response to any of those, I figured it couldn't hurt).
I really hoped the move wouldn't mean I'd have to start the process all over again (I'd been waiting three years at this point). And Yay! I didn't! In January of 2004 I get a message from the BOSTON immigration office that I must drive to Boston (a 4 hour round trip...) and get my fingerprints taken AGAIN. Next Thursday. At 10:30AM.
Yes Sir, whatever you say, Sir. And I guess the third time was the charm-- because Lo and Behold, a Miracle! A short 4 months later I get a letter telling me to come to Boston in a few weeks for my naturalization ceremony.
And that's how I became a citizen on Flag Day, June 14, 2004.
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