PUMA forward

You think it’s too late to plan some kind of commemorative/commiserative event for the 5.31 rules committee meeting that led to the birth of PUMA? Maybe make it net/blog based? Any interest?

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The “Incompetence Crisis”

All last year,  ALL  I heard was how experience didn’t matter.  I heard that being ‘ready on day one’  was a meaningless campaign slogan.  I was told that what mattered was perceived good judgment, intelligence, and speaking skills.  I remember watching the first Democratic Debates and thinking, this guy isn’t ready to be dogcatcher, let [...]

Potus and Team Flunk Economics

The Wall Street Journal’s Phil Izzo reports that a majority of economists participating in its forecasting survey believe the Obama economics team is failing to make the grade.  The ratings for Obama and Geithner trail the grade for Bernanke who is chair of the Fed and show a lack of confidence in current economic policy.  [...]

Kabuki Financial Regulation

Much speculation has been made recently about the possible similarities between Japan’s lost decade and financial crisis during the 1990s and the current US Financial crisis.  It’s impossible to get through any graduate program in either finance or economics without spending time with the mounds of research the decade ignited.  Since many folks are talking [...]

It’s Mardi Gras: You know, the Party before Penitence?

I’m sitting here watching the kids get their costumes together for the big day of celebration called Fat Tuesday.  That’s the day when you pull out all the stops because you know lean days (no meat, no alcohol, no fun) starts tomorrow.  I guess I must be in hyper-metaphorical mode because it’s really striking me [...]

WTF? Pre-Determined Stress Tests?

I finally have a bit of time to catch up on reading.  I’m hosting 10 of my youngest daughter’s college friends for Mardi Gras in a very small house and it’s as wild as it sounds.  I read this on Naked Capitalism and just didn’t even know what to say.   So I’m going to throw [...]

When Inclusion is Really Exclusion

When I heard that Rick Warren was invited by PE Obama to say a prayer at the inauguration,  my first thought was that Obama’s pandering to the religious right was more than just electioneering.  Obama seems intent on including them in his administration.  To me, this  bodes poorly for science, rational thought, and civil rights.   I was [...]

A message from PEER

As a public employee, I found myself frequently in the position of watching higher-ups do things that were not ethical, responsible or mindful of the public welfare.  I have less problems with that now that I work for a University as a prof endowed with intellectual freedom.  Other agency employees don’t have that same protection.  I [...]

Does this offend you NOW?

Obama, Misogyny, Obama Team: he man women haters club,

Changing the Changie Change Thing

It’s another change that will suprise the progressives from President Select Obama.  Are you ready?

Obama shelves oil company tax after price fall: aide
Tue Dec 2, 2008 9:20pm EST
 CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama is not planning to implement a windfall profit tax on oil companies because prices have dropped below $80 a barrel, an aide [...]