Academic

We are ?The Thinkers? type blog

Posted on November 27, 2008
  At least according to Typealyzer, a website that analyzes a blog’s writing style. H/T to Marquette Law Faculty Blog. Here’s the full explanation of this type from the site: The logical and analytical type. They are especialy attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into...

Matchday: Joga Bonito Edition

Posted on November 26, 2008
Like crepes without a filling …       

Today in Presidential History: Wartime Holiday Edition

Posted on November 26, 2008
November 26, 1953: Eisenhower addresses the nation on Thanksgiving: AMERICA, of course, has countless things for which to be thankful on this November 26th. But I think the most important is this: for the first Thanksgiving in the last four, we sit down to our traditional Thanksgiving feast without the fear of the casualty list hanging [...

Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability

Posted on November 26, 2008
Of interest: First Annual Conference: Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability, May 8-9, 2009 Sustainability is quickly becoming a core issue for business strategy and management. A body of rigorous academic research is emerging that provides an objective base of intellectual capital on corporate sustainability that informs both scholars and corporate executives...

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Today in Presidential History: Fawn Hall Edition

Posted on November 25, 2008
  November 25, 1986: Reagan and Meese admit to diverting funds from sales to Iran to fund rebels in Nicaragua. Somebody else likes shredding paper:       

Conservatism and talk radio

Posted on November 25, 2008
The FiveThirtyEight Blog has an interesting post on the dynamics of talk radio and conservatism. Particularly interesting is a long quote on David Foster Wallace’s take on what it means to be good at talk radio and what this means. Here’s a brief excerpt: Hosting talk radio is an exotic, high-pressure gig that not many people [...

Science & Technology Policy Fellowships

Posted on November 25, 2008
Of interest: The American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowships are awarded to highly qualified individuals interested in learning about the science-policy interface while applying their scientific and technical knowledge and analytical skills to the federal policy realm...

Going Slow

Posted on November 24, 2008
Joe Davidson, in the Post’s “Federal Diary“: Jennifer L. Dorn, who has had four presidential appointments, remembers her first days in a new agency this way: “It’s like being on a first date. How close do I dance with my partner?” Particularly unsettling is that 20 percent of the senior executives agreed with the statement: “I have [...

Today in Presidential History: Whigs Edition

Posted on November 24, 2008
No, not that Whigs. November 24, 1784: Zachary Taylor born in Orange County, Va.  Taylor died while in office from a dinner of cherries and milk.  Conspiracy theorists, unite!  But see Parenti (1998): Was President Zachary Taylor poisoned? Sometimes an event in history wins our attention not solely because of its generalizable significance but because of its inviting [...

Nonlinear Innovation

Posted on November 24, 2008
IDEO is a textbook case of doing stuff that doesn’t make a lot of sense in the short term, but where the impact is significant in the long term. Check out the IDEO “Global Chain Reaction Experience”. [Hat tip: Bob Sutton.]       

Today in Presidential History: Conspiracy Edition

Posted on November 24, 2008
November 24, 1963: Ruby shoots Oswald.       

More Burrowing

Posted on November 24, 2008
This time at NOAA. Next up: CDC?       

Nonlinear Innovation

Posted on November 24, 2008
IDEO is a textbook case of doing stuff that doesn’t make a lot of sense in the short term, but where the impact is significant in the long term. Check out the IDEO “Global Chain Reaction Experience“. [Apologies for not including the link first time...

Student Fellowships in Environmental Research

Posted on November 24, 2008
Of interest: EPA established the National Network for Environmental Management Studies (NNEMS) in 1986 to foster a growing interest among higher education students in environmental careers. The NNEMS program is a comprehensive fellowship program that provides undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to participate in a fellowship project that is directly related to their field of [...

Today in Presidential History: Pierce Edition

Posted on November 23, 2008
Franklin Pierce, born November 23, 1804 in Hillsboro, NH. Many rank Pierce one of the worst presidents in history (a title that’s up for contention), so why not consider a trip to the Franklin Pierce homestead the next time you’re in the Granite State? And stop by the Pierce barbecue pit while you’re in town...

Best bets for a Bush pardon

Posted on November 23, 2008
Are set forth on Slate Magazine here. Top contenders are: Scooter Libby and Michael Milken. Less likely to receive a pardon are: Michael Vick and Jack Abramoff.       

Bureaucracy and Asymmetric Information

Posted on November 23, 2008
By me, in the December 2008 issue of Rationality and Society: How does the informational role of interest groups interact with institutions when politicians seek to control the bureaucracy? In 1992, Banks and Weingast argued that bureaucrats hold an informational advantage vis-à-vis political principals concerning policy-relevant variables, and that when it is prohibitively costly to audit, [...

Hodgepodge

Posted on November 22, 2008
Obama and the War on Drugs Search Engines Predict Flu Engadget on Netbooks Toodledo       

The 2009 George C. Edwards III Dissertation Award

Posted on November 22, 2008
The Presidency Research Group (PRG), an organized section of the American Political Science Association (APSA), has established the George C. Edwards III Dissertation Award, to be granted annually for the best dissertation in presidency research completed and accepted during the calendar year prior to the APSA Annual Meeting at which it is announced...

Today in Presidential History: The Gap Edition

Posted on November 21, 2008
No, I don’t mean that Gap. November 21, 1973: J. Fred Buzhardt lets us know about the 18 1/4-minute gap in one of Nixon’s recordings. Is it the “curse of the mummy“? (NB: now that’s a well-written abstract.)       

Geithner to Treasury?

Posted on November 21, 2008
So says the NYT. Who wins?  Somebody thinks shareholders do, since stocks jumped 300 points. He’s involved with the bailout already, so there’s no learning curve. In 2005, he wrote “Changes in the Structure of the U.S. Financial System and the Implications for Systemic Risk” in Systemic Financial Crises: Resolving Large Bank Insolvencies, ed...

Casual Friday: Running Up that Hill Edition

Posted on November 21, 2008
      

The Emoluments Clause

Posted on November 21, 2008
Al Kamen in today’s “In the Loop”: Even if the problems involving Bill Clinton’s finances can be resolved, there’s another potential issue for his wife’s nomination. It’s called the Constitution of the United States, specifically Article I, Section 6, also known as the emoluments clause...

Today in Presidential History: Silent Spring Edition

Posted on November 20, 2008
November 20, 1969: Seven years after the publication of Silent Spring, the Nixon administration phased out residential use of DDT. It’s impossible to talk about environmental politics in advanced industrialized democracies and not talk about the silent spring metaphor...

Obama - Change is gonna come ? to college football!

Posted on November 20, 2008
Slate magazine has Obama’s take on the BCS rankings and his promise of change. (H/T to VC Blog). Here’s the interview.       

Corruption and Regulation

Posted on November 20, 2008
Don’t really know what to make of all the counter-intuitive results in one of the latest papers on this topic: This paper evaluates the extent of regulation in a democracy with corruption. Elected politicians can restrict entry of firms in exchange for bribes from entrepreneurs...

Waxman In, Dingell Out

Posted on November 20, 2008
As Chair of Energy and Commerce. One of the better discussions of the rivalry between Dingell and Waxman (often waged over cars and clean air requirements) is Marzotto, Burnor, and Bonham’s The Evolution of Public Policy: Cars and the Environment (2000, Lynne Rienner), who describe Waxman as Dingell’s “nemesis”...

History Repeats Itself

Posted on November 19, 2008
The question of proportional versus progressive taxation has not been settled in either theory or practice. First line of “Progressive Taxation in Theory and Practice,” published by E.R.A. Seligman in the American Economic Association Quarterly...

Today in Presidential History: Four Score and Seven Years Ago Edition

Posted on November 19, 2008
November 19, 1863: Lincoln speaks at Gettysburg. It’s as much about what you don’t say as what you do say.       

Matchday: U.S. Soccer Edition

Posted on November 19, 2008
Nats v. Guatemala, 11/19, 8 PM ET, Denver.       

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