Still Debating With Plato ScienceNews. Was mathematics discovered, or was it invented?
Did Robert Rubin Jeopardize Financial Stability to Protect Goldman Sachs? Dean Baker
Tin Cups and Ponzi Boyz Russ Winter
Distance Tariffs On Fossil Fuel: Trade Impacts Kent Welton. Another discussion of the topic featured in the New York Times yesterday, the environmental costs of transporting food long distances
“I love my dog/cat/budgie etc as much I love you” Larvatus Prodeo. What makes this different than the standard treatment of this subject is that it highlights the role of restrictions by landlords in animal euthanasia (if you can’t take your pet with you, and you can’t find a new home for it, it winds up at the shelter). This is a big issue in Oz, where owners are even less keen about pets than they are in the US. I find this pretty odd, since friends who have residential rental property tell me that pets do far less damage than children.
The changing housing cycle and its implications for monetary policy VoxEU. Argues that in more developed housing markets (with the US the poster child), “financial deregulation may have strengthened the role of housing in monetary policy transmission, because easier access to housing collateral may have linked house prices more closely to monetary policy…. monetary policy makers may need to respond more aggressively to a housing demand shock in economies with more developed mortgage markets.”
Just how good would drug legalization be? Tyler Cowen
Recession Diet Just One Way to Tighten Belt New York Times. On consumer cost-cutting.
Antidote du jour, from reader Rene, who has supplied many good pix:
