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Beyond the attack on Occupy

The attacks on the Occupy Wall Street movement know no bounds. Actually, on a positive note, the crescendo of attacks signifies the success of the movement. Still, when the criticisms are unfounded, they need to be contested. The latest example comes from Bill Keller, who argues that the Indian protest movement led by Hazare has [...]

Cartoon of the day

Special mention

Congress as legalized bribery

Thomas Friedman finally got something right: “Our Congress today is a forum for legalized bribery.” The fact that Friedman has recognized the problem just tells us how glaringly obvious it’s become.* According to Americans for Campaign Reform, individuals and political action committees in finance, insurance, and real estate have contributed over $2 billion to federal [...]

Public art of the day

[ht: rw]

Cartoon of the day

Special mention

Lehman Brothers’ last call

I happen to have been in New York City the weekend Lehman Brothers went bust. I remember as if it were yesterday the panic in the air, as the unelected representatives of the 1 percent tried to figure out what do to—not only about the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers but about the impending collapse of [...]

Cartoon of the day

Special mention

Back in the real world

U.S. stock markets may have soared yesterday, based on news of a deal to solve the problem of the European debt crisis. But today, in the real world, the news was quite different: unemployment in Spain rose to 21.5 percent in the third quarter. That means nearly nearly 5 million Spaniards (4,978,300, to be exact) [...]

Uncertainty and expert judgement

I have long admired Nate Silver’s willingness to embrace uncertainty. Fortunately, Silver has not been cowed by attacks on his critique of the hubris of supposedly expert judgement. So, he restates his case: Experts have a poor understanding of uncertainty. Usually, this manifests itself in the form of overconfidence: experts underestimate the likelihood that their [...]