Discuss Not Argue

Boycott Target!

2010-09-10T11:52:00.005-04:00

Hey everyone. I'm a fan of the movement to Boycott Target for a number of reasons. I think Citizens United was bad decision. I think corporations are indeed citizens and should have a right to free speech, but they do not (and should not) have a right to vote, and (whether they are trying to get a Republican, Democrat, or Independent candidate elected,) they should not have a right to free speech

2010-08-22T20:27:00.003-04:00

Time for DNA (at least me) to weigh in on the Mosque at Ground Zero Issue. It really is an interesting issue. Recently, I've come to think the wholesale dismissal of arguments to move the Islamic center (which I was guilty of until about a week ago) isn't entirely warranted. I agree that no government should interfere with the building of a mosque (or any other form of harmless religious

Cats & Dogs 3? All-Star Duo take down Prop 8.

2010-08-05T13:57:00.009-04:00

A well covered, but still most-fascinating aspect of Prop 8 litigation, (at least from a soon-to-be legal professional's opinion,) is the all-star duo that is representing the plaintiff-respondents (the gays) in the courts. Super heavyweights of the legal profession, Ted Olson and David Boies faced off in 2000 in Bush v. Gore. Olson, a conservative juggernaut bested Boies, the liberal hero, in

Prop 8 Unconstitutional

2010-08-05T13:57:00.007-04:00

Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the Norther District of California declared in a 136-page decision that California's Propisition 8, which attempted to ban Gay Marriage, is Unconstitutional. The Prop 8 issue is one of the most fascinating and polarizing issue of our time and nobody thinks Judge Walker's decision is the end of it. This issue will surely be appealed beyond the notoriously liberal 9th

Sherley Sherrod v. Fox News, et al?

2010-07-27T15:42:00.000-04:00

John W. Dean had a very interesting post on July 9th over at FindLaw's Writ Blog called "Should Sherley Sherrod sue Andrew Breitbart and Fox News?" This post gave very good reasons why Ms. Sherrod should NOT sue Breitbart and Fox News. It took me a while to find it because I have been so busy fantasizing about bringing that exact suit on behalf of Ms. Sherrod against Fox News and Breitbart. See

Health Insurance = Citizenship?

2010-07-27T15:19:00.011-04:00

Upon reading The Inactivity Principle, Gerard Magliocca's post on the Concurring Opinions blog, the debate with myself regarding the legitimacy of a "mandate" forcing citizens to acquire Health Insurance was reignited. A very novel issue raised by this post was truly thought provoking: "Is health care a core element of citizenship?" Magliocca asks if forcing citizens to purchase Health Insurance

DWade > LBJ

2010-07-22T13:18:00.012-04:00

I just want to point out that LeBron James will NEVER be the greatest of all time. He could have been. I will even go so far as to say he SHOULD have been. But alas, his stupid, lazy decision to go to Miami and take all the pressure of greatness of himself means LBJ will never be the greatest basketball player. He won't even be the best player of his generation. Dwayne Wade will ALWAYS have

Renaissance - Rebirth

2010-07-22T12:27:00.009-04:00

This blog is undergoing a Renaissance. It's spring, the season of rebirth. The Renaissance period in history is synonymous with the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. We at Discuss Not Argue (DNA) like Reason and Enlightenment. I am even considering changing the name of this blog to Reason Renaissance (or something like that). So this post commemorates the Rebirth of Discuss Not Argue

Healthcare, Curing the Disease not the Symptoms; Pt. 3: Prevention is Key

2009-09-07T16:43:00.004-04:00

From the previous post, it would seem that the U.S. healthcare system is more than capable enough to cure and treat the health needs of the country. So why is it then that we get such bad results and in turn spend so much more money than any other country for those results? The answer I think is pretty well known and often talked about which are the problems associated with lifestyle choices and

Healthcare, Curing the Disease not the Symptoms; Pt. 2: Checking the Rankings

2009-09-03T13:09:00.007-04:00

Dr. Mark Hyman wrote last month in his Huffington Post article, Why Health Care Reform Will Fail: Part I -- The Business of Disease: We Pay For What Doesn't Work, "Recently President Obama's rhetoric has shifted from health care reform to health insurance reform. "Getting more people access to a system that provides worse outcomes at higher costs is not an option for a sustainable health care

Healthcare, Curing the Disease not the Symptoms; Pt. 1: Crunching the Numbers

2009-09-01T10:55:00.009-04:00

It seems as if these days politics has become a competition in fear. Rather than who can come up with the best and most comprehensive solutions, it is about which side can scare the public enough into believing that they need to somehow be protected from the other side. This strategy is very effective as a distraction from the causes of what it is we are meant to fear as well as what the proposed

Australian vs. American Healthcare Systems

2009-08-26T08:57:00.003-04:00

This is a great article from John Hempton's blog Bronte Capital called, Health Care Reform and Single Payer- an Australian Perspective. There is some great insight as the author offers his perspective as an Australian who has experienced both systems. He covers an overview of how the Australian system works, the pros (savings and results), the cons (wait times, doctor salaries), and also how

A Real Bipartisan Effort on Health Care

2009-07-27T23:17:00.003-04:00

Now this seems to be more along the lines of avoiding "politics as usual" and actually trying to solve the problem of health care in the U.S. in a way that both sides can agree on.From the New York Times: Health Policy Now Carved Out at a More Centrist Table

Darwin vs. Smith

2009-07-12T10:53:00.003-04:00

From Economist's View: "Trumped by Darwin?" Robert Frank returns to the point he made in Alpha Markets, i.e. that Charles Darwin provides the "true intellectual foundation" for economics. Though the example this time is male elk rather than bull elephant seals, the central point - and it's one worth giving more thought to - is

U.S. Competitiveness Challenged - CNBC.com

2009-07-10T16:51:00.001-04:00

A video from CNBC's "The Kudlow Report" discussing U.S. competitiveness. I found the second half the most shocking as they discuss how U.S. tax rates are trending up, possibly topping the charts in a range of different types of taxes. U.S. Competitiveness Challenged - CNBC.comShared via AddThis

How Twitter is changing the world

2009-06-16T00:16:00.001-04:00

I've been reading a lot recently about the growing influence of social networking, particularly Twitter. It seems really fascinating to me how a system that's based around the idea of 140 word long posts can have such an impact on something like Iranian or Moldovian politics, not just in the United States.Social Networks Spread Iranian Defiance Online (NYT):As the embattled government of

Health Care Commentary

2009-06-09T01:44:00.000-04:00

The health care issue has always been something that has puzzled me, as I've never seemed to really feel as if the issues have been properly highlighted nor solutions put forward. Whenever I do read about, the issue is always so highly politicized and partisan. This is an interesting commentary by Richard Posner on his blog, www.becker-posner-blog.com. I don't think it quite gets at the issue,

Some interesting GM facts from Carpe Diem

2009-06-09T01:38:00.000-04:00

From Professor Mark Perry's Carpe Diem Blog: "In Michigan there are 193,301 GM retirees and 46,467 active manufacturing workers, which is a ratio of more than 4 retirees per active worker. For Ohio, the ratio is more than 6 retirees per active worker, and in Indiana there are 8.6 retirees per active worker!As someone said recently, "GM has become a health care benefits management firm that sells

Bailouts and the Free Market

2009-06-05T05:50:00.002-04:00

Mark Thoma responds to Edward L. Glaeser of the Boston Globe:http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/06/the-problem-with-bailouts.html"The Problem with Bailouts"Ed Glaeser doesn't like the auto bailout:The problem with bailouts, by Edward L. Glaeser, Commentary, Boston Globe: Recessions can ... reveal weakness in seemingly invulnerable businesses, like Citibank and Toyota. But

It's ok to make money!

2009-04-02T07:38:00.001-04:00

From Bronte Capital:Rortybomb is a blog where I find myself entirely agreeing with the mathematics and totally disagreeing with the conclusion. I have added it to the blog roll – and intend on taking a few shots at it. I consider Rortybomb as providing an illustration of all the things you can do to abuse mathematics in economics. Mike (the blogger) posts empirical research suggesting the

A case for Cap and Trade from the Energy Industry

2009-03-29T07:13:00.004-04:00

This gives some good insight into cap and trade from a CEO within the energy industry. He makes the important point that whatever legislation is put into place, and agrees there needs to be something done, it should allow the market to decide which sources of energy are efficient in terms of carbon emission.From WSJ Opinion by Joseph Rago:On the one hand, environmentalists claim that climate

The Temptation of Protectionism

2009-03-17T19:42:00.002-04:00

I think that the really scary thing is that even though we've been through this before (although the article makes the point that it was in a different form) we seem to be making the same mistakes, in this case most specifically the Buy America provisions in the stimulus. There doesn't really seem to be a point if we can't learn from our mistakes. It seems coordination is the real problem here,

TARP alternative. Why continue spending trillions?

2009-03-16T02:26:00.002-04:00

I've found myself interested in hearing the alternative solutions that are put forward, particularly since defenders of programs such as TARP and more frequently the Stimulus argue that the other side simply hasn't put forward any solutions so these are our best options by default. This is an interesting proposal by Larry Kudlow, a bit technical but a clear description, that uses an upward

Banks opting out of bailout money

2009-03-11T09:37:00.001-04:00

From the NYT:Some Banks, Citing Strings, Want to Return Federal Aid

In depth analysis of Fiscal Stimulus

2009-03-09T05:33:00.002-04:00

This is an interesting (a bit long) and thorough analysis by John H. Cochrane of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business discussing fiscal stimulus both in general but more specifically relating to the current situation and how the argument for a general fiscal stimulus (without much of a commentary on the specifics of the Obama team's plan) applies to the credit crisis. Although I

America could take some lessons in capitalism... from China

2009-03-03T03:38:00.001-05:00

China Goes on a Smart Shopping Spree, Time Magazine:The world might be sinking into its worst recession in generations, but China is on a wild shopping spree. Sitting some $2 trillion of cash reserves, Beijing is taking advantage of the woes of others to cement its grip on new sources of commodities ranging from olive oil to crude oil —often at fire-sale prices.