J. Bradford DeLong's Blog, page 2283

Chemistry!

Now where did I find the link to this?

Mental Health Break: The Alkali Metals Show Their Personalities. In the Pipeline::

I suppose that the way to think about it is that the bare charge of the three protons of lithium is shielded from the valence electron by the two inner-orbital electrons, and that the bare charge of the fifty-five protons of cesium is shielded from the valence electron by the fifty-four inner-orbital electrons, and thus in each case you have (roughly) a...

Fifty-Two Little Herbert Hoovers

Arthur Delaney:

Jobs Bill Bombs In Senate, 45-52: Deficit concerns trumped jobless aid in the Senate Wednesday as a key vote on a bill to reauthorize several expired programs, including extended unemployment benefits, failed 45-52, with 12 Democrats voting against it. "I've said all along that we have to be able to pay for what we're spending," said Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat who voted against the bill. "$77 billion or more of this is not paid for and that translates into...

More Magical Foreign Growth-Promoting Fiscal Austerity

Paul Krugman:

Magical Foreigners, Austerity Edition: [N:]ow the cause is fiscal austerity — and we keep hearing about supposed examples of countries that experienced a boom after tightening fiscal policy.... Canada in the 1990s... turns out to be a quite different story. Now we’re hearing about Ireland in the 1980s.... And whaddya know: this story is also not at all the way it’s being told (pdf). Yes, Ireland had fiscal austerity — but it also benefited from a devaluation and an...

And What Are Our Immigrants from Overseas, Chopped Liver?

At Free Exchange, A.S. punches her internal Economist credentials by telling only half the story:

Migration: Texas, here we come | The Economist: IN THE ten years I’ve lived in New York I forgot how to drive. Lately I’ve been spending lots of time in Austin, Texas. Enough so that I’ve had to start driving again. When you go many years without driving, it becomes terrifying. So to refresh my skills I took lessons with a wonderfully patient and brave woman who has taught driving in Austin...

So What Are the Short, Medium, and Long-Term Environmental Consequences?

Robert Schroeder:

BP well leaking as much as 60K barrels/day: U.S. - MarketWatch: BP PLC's damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico is leaking between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of oil a day, U.S. government and independent scientists said in an increased estimate Tuesday. The flow rate was previously estimated at 20,000 to 40,000 barrels per day...

Zannis Understood All too Well...

A new Alan Furst novel: Spies of the Balkans

... Greece had been ruled by the Metaxas dictatorship since 1936--the length of women's skirts was regulated; it was forbidden to read aloud the funeral oration of Pericles--and people were cautious about what they said on the telephone...

When iPhones Attack!!!!

Please, please, please, Mr. iPhone Autocorrect: the name of the Washington Bureau Chief of the Financial Times is not "Ed Lice," it is "Ed Luce."

That is all.

Pete Seeger Liveblogs World War II: June 16, 1940

Pete Seeger sings in opposition to America's fighting Nazi Germany:

Remember when the AAA


Killed a million hogs a day?


Instead of hogs, it's men today -


Plow the fourth one under!

Plow under, plow under,


Plow under every fourth American boy!...

Now the politicians rant,


"A boy's no better than a cotton plant;"


But we are here to say you can't


Plow the fourth one under!

Yet Another New York Times FAIL

Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?

James Risen on Marc Ambinder, Josh Marshall, and Blake Hounshell:

NYT reporter defends Afghan minerals piece, lashes out at critic: "Bloggers should do their own reporting instead of sitting around in their pajamas.... The thing that amazes me is that the blogosphere thinks they can deconstruct other people's stories. Do you even know anything about me? Maybe you were still in school when I broke the NSA story, I don't know. It was back...

links for 2010-06-15

NOAA: Warmest May, spring, and Jan-May on record « Climate Progress







Economist: Should China allow the yuan to rise?







Barack Obama: 'We Will Fight This Spill With Everything We've Got'







Martin Wolf: Why plans for early fiscal tightening carry global risks







Daniel Davies: Can there be a less appealing headline than Thomas...