In Other News, Water is Still Wet

The chief bureaucrat of the UNC System announces that there is no need to reduce the size of the bureaucracy he is overseeing.


UNC system President Tom Ross said on Monday that the administration would look at ways to effect more efficiencies, but added he didn’t think closing any of the campuses was a good idea. 

Regarding an idea floated by Senate Republican budget leaders earlier this year that closure of one or more of the UNC campuses had been considered, Ross said that he questioned how much money could be saved by doing so. “We’re happy to look at the idea of closing campuses if you want us to,” Ross said. “The economics of it are not smart for North Carolina." 

So, he hasn't looked at it.  But he will look at it, if we want.  But he knows without looking it is "not smart."  My own view is that if he honestly looked, he might find this.  

Phone call for Bill Niskanen.

Death Star Petition

At least some sign of humor.  Gratifying.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking

Nod to Anonyman.

Twisted steel & Sachs appeal

When someone I follow re-tweeted Jeff Sachs' message to Jim Kim last week, I was impressed and surprised at its gracious tone:

Jim Kim is a superb nominee for WB. I support him 100%. I thank all who supported me and know they'll be very pleased with today's news

So surprised that I went to Sachs' twitter feed to see what was up. And found these gems, all on March 21:

I've been given no consideration, and won't be. The US Government doesn't seem to care about global poverty. 


Did you know that Larry Summers actually knew BEFOREHAND what Shleifer was doing while HIID did not? 


In 1999 Polish President gave me one of nation's highest medals for my historic contribution. 


You should know that in an emergency room there are "short-term disruptions." Don't blame the doc.

Sadly, the feed has gone quiet since he congratulated Kim.

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.

Things my Provost wants me to know

Apropos of absolutely nothing, the Provost's office emailed me this today:

"Pregnancy is not a disability under ADA unless there are medical complications. For OU employees we have to treat pregnancies in the same manner as we do other temporary ailments, i.e., broken leg or such."

1. I'm pretty sure that i.e. is not the correct pretentious concept here. I believe this is an e.g. situation.

2. pregnancy = broken leg? WTF? Does OU put body casts on all pregnant employees?

3. I need to know this today of all days exactly why?

Lavish links

1. A wonderful send off for the space shuttle and a glorious F. U. to NASA.

2. 13's digital nips (hat tip to Tyler).

3. Bryan Caplan loses an argument.....with HIMSELF!!

4. The curse of the Jonah Brothers.

Not What Metal, But What Factors

US Mint is soliciting public comment...sort of.

What new metals should we use in minting coins?

Except that they don't really want to know about metals. They want to know what factors we should use in deciding what metals.

The United States Mint is not soliciting suggestions or recommendations on specific metallic coinage materials, and any such suggestions or recommendations will not be considered at this time. The United States Mint seeks public comment only on the factors to be considered in the research and evaluation of potential new metallic coinage materials.

Just the title itself is SO great!

Nigeria Charges Dick Cheney with Corruption.

I know it's Halliburton, and you can't do business in Nigeria without paying substantial bribes to pretty much every government wanker with his hand out. But still....Pot, meet Kettle!

I just picked out Mungowitz's Xmas present!

More info here.

Merry Chistmas Mr. Mungo!

Let Me Help You Pack!

KPC friend Veronique de Rugy tells a fine Gov. Christie Story.

The Blonde suggests that this be the bumper sticker for 2012: "Let's all help them pack!"

It's so EZ to save the country

The NY Times set out a challenge: YOU fix the Budget! So I tried and it was easy. You can see my plan from this link.

I (more than) balanced the budget in 2015 and 2030 with 90% coming from spending cuts and 10% from new revenues.

I left the Bush tax rates in place. I didn't get rid our our current tax breaks for mortgages and health insurance. I didn't put on a national sales tax.

I did put on a carbon tax and some type of estate tax. I raised the social security retirement age one year to 68, and I capped medicare growth at GDP growth +1% point starting in 2013.

The rest was just straight up, old fashioned spending cuts.

I would put the chances of anything within two standard deviations of my proposal getting through our political system at right around 2 or 3 percent tops.

But the bottom line is that we are not in budget trouble because of any fundamental structural economic or demographic problems. We are in trouble because our politics are disfunctional.

"Nudge" and the university

The University of Missouri-KC has an *awesome* idea for getting more candidates for University committee slots: Put everyone on electronic ballots unless they go on line and opt out!

Really!

"According to Daniel P. Hopkins, an associate professor of geosciences and the previous chairman, "The faculty is extremely busy and stressed," and unwilling to spend time on administrative duties like deciding each major's academic requirements and reviewing the college's budget. "The idea that someone should be asked to run for an office that they don't want is, on the face of it, crazy," he says, but it was the only way to fill the posts.

Since 2009, faculty members have been expected to log on to see which positions they were eligible for and, if they chose, to remove their names from consideration. Professors who logged on to the Web site but did not remove their names were assumed to be willing to serve. Those who did not log on at all were also listed, but voters were warned that the candidates' willingness to serve was uncertain."

Well, if it's the only way, then I guess it's OK!

The Way Bureaucrats SHOULD Think of Government

This video reveals two things: Why Angus and I cannot hold appointed office....

and why nonetheless we should. This poor guy is trying to read new imported cured meat handling regulations. He can't get through it, not even in German, the ideal language for faceless automatons.

(Nod to the Blond, who knows when to laugh)

You know what's fun?

Blowing stuff up!

You know who's good at it?

China!



Check here for more great photos and an interesting take on the phenomenon.

Juevos Grandes

I accept that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency will make it harder and more expensive to make loans, thus slowing growth and reducing employment. I further accept that the new nanny agency will make it impossible for poor people to get loans, after which we will all blame banks for being greedy, instead of bureaucrats for being stupid.

But it is hard to accept that our con law prof prez is going to subvert the entire "advise and consent" part of the constitution. He has a Democratic senate, for heaven's sake.

If the Cambridge Caterwauler can't be confirmed by a Democratic senate, maybe she is too extreme for the job. Proof I'm right: WaPo likes it.

(Nod to Angry Alex)

Best Headline

Best Headline:

Governors Call For New Bureaucracy to Improve Efficiency

Here is the actual press release.

Let me know how that works out, okay?

(nod to JS)

Going Galt? or A great idea!

Over at MR, Alex T. bemoans the government's plan to slash executive wages at the 7 "most bailed out" companies. I respectfully disagree. These are State owned enterprises now and having an expert decide if the public is getting its moneys worth is entirely reasonable.

If fact, I think this is a trend well worth expanding in dealing with pay for people who are publicly funded.

I would be happy to serve as a "special master" to evaluate pay relative to performance at a lot of other publicly funded enterprises like say, Congress, the SEC, the Federal Reserve, Fannie and Freddie, the EPA, the Treasury and (just to be mean spirited) the office of the Vice President.

As to how I would rule in these cases, let's just say that Santa would be able to save on reindeer food because he wouldn't be coming to the DC area this year.

And yes, I do realize that I teach at a State University. Thanks in advance for reminding me.

The Public Option in "Action"

Inquiring minds

Hey Dr. Mungo: WHO WON?????????

signed,  The Universe

Presidents say the darndest things

While no one will ever match the Shrub's endless flow of unintentional comedy (at least I hope not), our current president can break out with some accidental comedy gold as well.

I can't believe I missed this when it first happened. Earlier this week President O refuted that the public option in health insurance would crowd out private plans BY CITING THE POST OFFICE!

Thank you for that Mr. President.

"He (Obama) also disputed the notion that adding a government-run insurance plan into a menu of options from which people could pick would drive private insurers out of business, in effect making the system single-payer by default.

As long as they have a good product and the government plan has to sustain itself through premiums and other non-tax revenue, private insurers should be able to compete with the government plan, Obama said.

"They do it all the time," he said. "UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. ... It's the Post Office that's always having problems.""

Of course, UPS and FedEx have crushed the post office in the areas where they are allowed to compete (I think FedEx planes even help deliver a big chunk of the USPS's overnight mail) and the Post Office hemorrhages money while operating as a first class mail monopolist subject to Congressional oversight.

If private insurance companies were allowed the flexibility that UPS and FedEx have to produce and price products and sell them across state lines and the public option had to stand on its own two feet I would predict exactly the same outcome in health insurance. But I am not going to hold my breath waiting for that type of playing field to emerge anytime soon.