Gendered

I don't know.  This seems a little facile.



On the other hand....it is surely true that at least some, and perhaps most, of our expectations about gender roles really are socially constructed.  And if someone wants to "identify" differently, that's okay with me.

I'm not so sure this is okay, with me.  That's a lot to keep track of.  And it's all made up.  I understand, that's the point, that ALL genders and roles are made up, or "socially constructed," and so why not make up better ones.  But I really think that any parent who has been around little boys and little girls will have some doubts about the claim that gender roles are 100% socially constructed.

Liberty Defined

It's long, but it's quite interesting.  I don't agree with all of it, but Dr. Paul is an articulate spokesman for our side.  I don't really get the "End the Fed" stuff as the number ONE priority, though, I have to admit.  There are some fiddles that would improve the way the Fed works (like stop expecting miracles, and credible commitment), sure, but not "end."

Still, this is pretty cool.

What would YOU do?

Armored truck driving on highway, back door unlatched.

Money spills out, swirling around in the air.

What would YOU do?

A lot of people stopped, dropped, and grabbed.

I would have driven on, but I'm not sure my reason is morally admirable. I would have assumed that the amount of money I might expect to grab was not worth the twin risks of (a) getting hit by a speeding car and (b) getting arrested for stealing cash.

Nod to the LMM.

Only in Academia

An MA student at UCSB, Christopher Todd Brown, wrote his thesis and got it approved. After the committee approved it, he added a "Dis-acknowledgements" section which started like this:

"I would like to offer special F**k You's to the following degenerates for of being an ever-present hindrance during my graduate career...."

Only there weren't any ** in there and it continued to rail at some length against various bureaucrats, politicians and institutions with which Chris had beef.

Unsurprisingly, the university refused to accept the thesis in that form, requiring him to drop the ex post additions he'd made.

Somewhat surprisingly, Chris chose to sue instead. And then to appeal when he lost.

And thanks to the internet and Paul Gowder, we get to read about it!

I actually think the student is right. They shouldn't stop you from getting your degree because you let off a little steam in the acknowledgements. My only issue with Chris T. Brown is that he didn't have the onions to let his committee see his handiwork ex-ante, and just tried to weasel it in ex-post.

Be careful what you wish for

In my survey of international economics class today we had an excellent discussion of possible end-games for the current Euro crisis.

One point that really struck home with me was when a student asked "Why did Greece even want to be in a monetary union with Germany in the first place"?

Indeed.

Greece was a serial defaulting, non-tax collecting, relatively corrupt, but seemingly happy country. They were never going to be Germany, and I can't understand why they wanted to be Germany. Yet they moved heaven and earth to meet the Mastricht criteria and get into the Euro. They hired Goldman to swap around their future revenues, and maybe they fibbed a little bit too. At the time, many people were surprised that they made it in.

Short term, they got a ton of cheap (for them) credit and enjoyed a spending binge. But their economy grew ever less competitive and their external position ever weaker. Now they are down and out, humiliated, wracked by social unrest, and pretty much flat broke.

Yet they still want to stay in! People, Greece is never going to be Germany. I don't say that as a negative about Greece but as a statement of history/culture. The values are different, the comparative advantages are different. Thus, German monetary policy is not really ever going to be right for Greece. Unless Germany is willing to adopt them and put them on a perpetual allowance, the Euro is not going to work out for Greece.

It's time for Greece to pull the full Argentina, or as Hillary likes to say, press the reset button.