tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post8988678101783581177..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: Economists without economicsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-12067966526618417422011-05-02T13:06:05.375-07:002011-05-02T13:06:05.375-07:00Bravo Steve, as an amateur economist I am also ext...Bravo Steve, as an amateur economist I am also extremely disappointed the current bunch of daff economist never or rarely try to explain the opportunity cost equation much less apply it to decisions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-42929165057051372702011-05-02T12:38:13.122-07:002011-05-02T12:38:13.122-07:00"I notice that women are often prone to fisca..."I notice that women are often prone to fiscal obligationism. That is, rather than seeing money as a way to escape commitments, like paying the rent ahead for six months,"<br /><br />Oh that Sex and the City crowd. If only some nerd-brain could program a credit card that would give its owner a shock every time s/he swiped it for a profligate purpose. I'd get myself one posthaste.<br /><br />But traditionally, the wife was in charge of the purse-strings (the Japanese are famous for insisting on this arrangement in their households), so if homes were run any better financially then, on average, be careful to whom you give the credit. In my family, my mother wasn't well and my father had to buy and plan everything, and didn't like it at all, since he worked 7-4 every day. He would talk about the financially efficient wives of his brothers and friends, and gave these ladies credit for why their families did so well with the same amount of money.<br /><br />USAID found that when lending to third world poor, villagers mostly, the guys rarely paid back the loans, using the money for their own purposes, while the women usually used the money as the lenders intended, and did pay them back. Lamentations about weakening the male role would seem to be in order, but these "AID" organizations are actually a business, and they need to get their investment back. But then most villagers are not faced with the dilemma of Jimmy Choos.charlottenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-90585958829768287752011-05-02T11:45:50.082-07:002011-05-02T11:45:50.082-07:00Re: Similarly, Tabarrok reasons: "I remember ...Re: <i>Similarly, Tabarrok reasons: "I remember those idyllic summers of the 1970s earning a few extra dollars mowing lawns–80,000 amputated fingers, hands and mangled toes and feet every year back then and just 6,000 today. Would I even let me kid use a mower from the 1970s?"</i><br /><br />Tabborak is attibuting the decline in lawn-mower accidents to lawn-mowers being safer, when in all actuality in the low-end lawn-mower has changed very little since the 1970s (prior to that I am sure there was a higher percentage push reel lawn mowers in use). I would venture to guess that the decline in lawn mower accidents is due to the fact that very few children seem to do chores such as that anymore.Robert Philabaumhttp://www.lasallestreetjournal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-74546057661981865502011-05-02T11:20:21.832-07:002011-05-02T11:20:21.832-07:00Making huge money and climbing most corporate or p...<i>Making huge money and climbing most corporate or political ladders pretty much cancels out morality. Yes, it does.</i><br /><br />"Moralistic" would have been a better word than "moral".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38925073172311136272011-05-02T09:51:35.363-07:002011-05-02T09:51:35.363-07:00Truth:
In fact, it is common knowledge among econ...Truth:<br /><br />In fact, it is common knowledge among economist that virtually all the reduction in the Black-White earnings gap occurred prior to 1965, mainly between 1940-1960. <br /><br />Adjusting for inflation, the earnings of Black men increased 2.5 times and black women 2.4 times between 1940-1960, one of the most dramatic gains in human history. This was twice the increase for whites. These figures are from "America in black and white: one nation indivisible" (in google books). <br /><br />The convergence slowed after the end of the golden age. <br /><br />In 1967, the first year the Census has public data online, Blacks median earning was 58% that of whites. In 2009 the figure was 63% that of whites. This is a mere 5 percent during 42 years. <br /><br />http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/household/H05_2009.xls<br /><br />Similarly the education gap closed most rapidity until the early 1970s, and than started to stagnate. <br /><br />I am not saying the civil rights movement was not a good thing, it was extremely important, as not everything is about money. (The civil rights act also led to some improvement in earnings, although not very large compared to what happened 1940-1960.) <br /><br />We need to get history straight: Blacks more than any other group benefited from the American Golden Age, which is the end of the depression until the late 1960s. <br /><br />Black gains in earnings, education and social status 1940-1965 caused the civil rights movement, not the other way around. <br /><br />Instead of accepting the official story as spread by liberals, you would like to point out to readers here that black gains came about without any external help through their own effort, and prior to the emergence of affirmative action and the like.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-25748030093744329912011-05-02T09:21:20.669-07:002011-05-02T09:21:20.669-07:00"'Also, I love how today everything must ...<i>"'Also, I love how today everything must be seen through the prism of "Was it - or is it - good for the blacks?".'"</i><br /><br />Believe it or not, most modern Americans don't like the idea of blatant social injustice."<br /><br />Which is why most modern Americans are opposed to blatant social engineering.Kylienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63480573850355672842011-05-02T08:46:44.297-07:002011-05-02T08:46:44.297-07:00Parents, whether out of misguided love or more bas...Parents, whether out of misguided love or more base emotions, who want their kids to be tough, rich, successful, social, socially dominant, religious, moral, etc. at the expense of being happy, are committing the worst sort of child abuse.<br /><br />Confusing them too. Real dissonance. While "religious " has a bad rap these days, it doesn't mean socially dominant. Making huge money and climbing most corporate or political ladders pretty much cancels out morality. Yes, it does.elmer gantrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38627763722088082722011-05-02T08:39:55.322-07:002011-05-02T08:39:55.322-07:00"For example, Krugman himself says that he wo..."For example, Krugman himself says that he wouldn't want to go back because now, "You can get really good coffee just about anywhere." <br /><br /><br />More Americans were going to Europe not 3rd world immigrants. I went to Europe about 1985 and on the trip back, was already missing the coffee. The stewardess commisserated with me about the good coffe back in Europe. I had culture shock, buying "coffee" in a carry-out in DC and getting brown water. Then out of nowhere came Starbucks (not my fav, but better than before) and trucks on the street, and in eateries, selling cappucinos and strong coffee. So now you can get it here and I wouldn't trade that for all the jello molds in Hoboken.leslienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63345300096492865792011-05-02T08:30:10.849-07:002011-05-02T08:30:10.849-07:00"The 50s were marred by having the most blood..."The 50s were marred by having the most bloody awful pop music, being in the trough between Swing and The Beatles. Mind you, they seem to have shared that defect with the 70s, 80s, 90s, noughties and nowsies.<br /><br /><br />I think even the 70s and 80s were better than the 50s as far as pop music goes."<br /><br />5/1/11 9:36 PM<br /><br /><br />and yet it was the 50s music, even some of the poppest, like the girl groups, who inspired the Beatles, Stones, etc. Whenever I've read bios of these groups, they always go back to their early mesmerization by 50s skiffle, bubblegum, rockabilly, girl groups, soul, country, etc.dcitenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-48845960959708203462011-05-02T08:26:22.952-07:002011-05-02T08:26:22.952-07:00Agnostic:
"It's better to be happy than ...Agnostic:<br /><br /><i>"It's better to be happy than tough."</i><br /><br /><i>Re-read what I wrote. Kids can't be happy when they're "socially stunted, nerdy 40 year-old virgins with no driver's license and weak bones."</i><br /><br />What said is that the happy BE THEMSELVES kids of the modern age of parental love are "socially stunted ..."<br /><br />I am the same person that wrote in <i>The Atlantic's Valley mafia on Chua</i> "do you want your kids to be happy, or to be 'successful?'" <br /><br />Happiness = being one's own self.<br /><br />Parents, whether out of misguided love or more base emotions, who want their kids to be tough, rich, successful, social, socially dominant, religious, moral, etc. at the expense of being happy, are committing the worst sort of child abuse.<br /><br /><i>It's telling that you describe the alternative to the above malfunctions as having a "toughness obsession" to rival Hitler's father.</i><br /><br />What is telling is that some parents, in their zeal for their sons (and even daughters) to be "real men", are surprised when their sprogs become monsters instead.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-79943590528351320512011-05-02T07:22:09.566-07:002011-05-02T07:22:09.566-07:00Also, I love how today everything must be seen thr...<i>Also, I love how today everything must be seen through the prism of "Was it - or is it - good for the blacks?".</i><br /><br />Believe it or not, most modern Americans don't like the idea of blatant social injustice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-13976621822711844962011-05-02T07:18:11.374-07:002011-05-02T07:18:11.374-07:00It's particularly unseemly for these "eco...It's particularly unseemly for these "economists" to tie technological advances with immigration when immigration inhibits innovation and capital investment by reducing the relative cost of labor. Cheap (for the employer) Mexican maids didn't invent the Roomba. The availability of Mexibots retarded labor-saving innovations.robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-85183973213237547782011-05-02T04:01:39.585-07:002011-05-02T04:01:39.585-07:00OT but in covering yesterday's May Day "i...OT but in covering yesterday's May Day "immigrant rights" rally in San Jose, CA, a _Mercury_ (sjmercury.com) reporter made a *major* off-message faux pas in mentioning, at one point, "amid a sea of Mexican flags".<br /><br />No photo, unfortunately.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-62318895535805891912011-05-01T23:38:47.751-07:002011-05-01T23:38:47.751-07:00The point about lawn mower mutilations is pure bul...The point about lawn mower mutilations is pure bullshit.<br /> The fact is that lawn mower accidents have decreased purely because of regulations that insist on pressure governed safety cut-outs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-71447829725562277782011-05-01T22:49:25.348-07:002011-05-01T22:49:25.348-07:00Farmers get beat up by pastoralists because farmer...Farmers get beat up by pastoralists because farmers can't easily run away (unless they are swiddeners). It's much harder to retaliate against people who don't rely on a fixed-in-place resource. Eventually a "stationary bandit" tends to take on the role of expropriating the farmer surplus (again, something harder to do for pastoralists) and since that elite can divert its time from working to defense it may handle the raiding barbarians (as did Brian Boru, Basil II, Otto the Great and Ivan the Terrible). Since farmers are more productive per unit of land, they tend to eventually displace pastoralists.<br /><br />I would actually be interested in seeing correlations between happiness and being in fights as a kid. Based on the "Lucky Jim" principle, I will guess that it is negative.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-36622957138280553562011-05-01T22:26:53.088-07:002011-05-01T22:26:53.088-07:00Also, I love how today everything must be seen thr...Also, I love how today everything must be seen through the prism of "Was it - or is it - good for the blacks?".<br /><br />Evidently, if sometime in the past it was good for us White Folks (90 percent of the country) - who cares? It was bad for black folks. So, it was a bad, terrible time.<br /><br />And the idea that women were "oppressed" prior to 1970, is laughable - as is the idea that everyone in 50s was June Cleaver - or that everyone in 1970 suddenly became "liberated" and happy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73323066413668065232011-05-01T22:19:44.811-07:002011-05-01T22:19:44.811-07:00"The point of thinking about the past is not ..."The point of thinking about the past is not to decide whether or not we'd rather live there. Since we don't actually have time machines, we aren't confronted with an all or nothing choice between living in the past and living in the present."<br /><br />Well said Steve. But then the only way Liberals & Liberaltarians can continue to support their immigration policy is by doing just that. I mean, its an obvious choice, do you want massive illegal and legal immigration, computers and a great Cafe Latte OR Segregation, restricted immigration and Raspberry Jello.<br /><br />Its that simple.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-88839616679869770882011-05-01T22:19:37.564-07:002011-05-01T22:19:37.564-07:00"There's a hypothetical for you: Could th..."There's a hypothetical for you: Could the squarejohn have made the iPad?"<br /><br />Ha ha ha...the "squarejohns" who put a man on the moon would not be able to build an iPad. That's rich.<br /><br />Amazing that people think iPad's are advanced technology.mapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50780828279643705622011-05-01T21:44:19.723-07:002011-05-01T21:44:19.723-07:00"My impression is that virtually the entire b..."My impression is that virtually the entire black middle class---the only sizable group of blacks that have actually benefitted from the social changes since the 1950s---is a creation of government jobs and government-induced AA policies."<br /><br />Wrong. The lack of a black middle class previous to the civil rights act was a creation of not having fair opportunities.Truthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17286755693955361308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-84644480066257707982011-05-01T21:36:51.388-07:002011-05-01T21:36:51.388-07:00The 50s were marred by having the most bloody awfu...<i>The 50s were marred by having the most bloody awful pop music, being in the trough between Swing and The Beatles. Mind you, they seem to have shared that defect with the 70s, 80s, 90s, noughties and nowsies.</i><br /><br /><br />I think even the 70s and 80s were better than the 50s as far as pop music goes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-83384839438559393232011-05-01T21:19:03.056-07:002011-05-01T21:19:03.056-07:00"I've Got You Under My Skin" is like..."I've Got You Under My Skin" is like Beyonce's "Crazy In Love" -- the content of the lyrics are all about how powerless the singer is, how possessed they are by the spirit of love or whatever.<br /><br />Meanwhile the execution tells you that it's all a put-on -- you've never heard such composed, deliberate singing. They don't sound involuntarily head-over-heels at all, notwithstanding the occasionally blaring music.<br /><br />Contrast that with a song where the singer truly does sound like he's lost self-control, and where the guitar solo mimics the trance-like, almost ecstatic state of mind that he's in:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w7OgIMMRc4" rel="nofollow">"Sweet Child o' Mine"</a>agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-74450588291996483882011-05-01T21:11:04.531-07:002011-05-01T21:11:04.531-07:00Anonymous said...
"In many respects blacks ar...<i>Anonymous said...<br />"In many respects blacks are worse off today than they were in the 50's."<br /><br />Can this be documented -- apart from the deterioration of the black family and increase in imprisonment rates?</i><br /><br />Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63328534692311759002011-05-01T21:07:57.846-07:002011-05-01T21:07:57.846-07:00"It's better to be happy than tough."..."It's better to be happy than tough."<br /><br />Re-read what I wrote. Kids can't be happy when they're "socially stunted, nerdy 40 year-old virgins with no driver's license and weak bones."<br /><br />It's telling that you describe the alternative to the above malfunctions as having a "toughness obsession" to rival Hitler's father.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-71735115516673061002011-05-01T21:04:51.215-07:002011-05-01T21:04:51.215-07:00Modern household appliances -- everything from run...<i>Modern household appliances -- everything from running water to washing machines -- so greatly reduced the time required to do all of cooking, cleaning, washing etc. the support the domestic side of family life that formerly fully occupied housewives found themselves with time on their hands and so entered the job market.</i><br /><br />I sometimes wonder what percentage of modern households actually function better in an economic sense with two parents working outside the home than they would if those same women could still cook and even manufacture some basic foodstuffs, produce clothing, and accomplish numerous other cost-saving tasks women a century ago would have taken for granted. Unfortunately, women have so few domestic skills at this point that it's hard to reverse the trend.<br /><br />Many employed women today are lousy spenders who somehow manage to dump most of their own income into black holes of frivolity, then eat away at any extra income their husbands and boyfriends earn, and then get themselves (and their spouses) into quite a bit of external debt besides without doing much to enhance their marital estate.<br /><br />I notice that women are often prone to fiscal obligationism. That is, rather than seeing money as a way to escape commitments, like paying the rent ahead for six months, they instead use money to increase commitments, like shopping for a new home because they think the kitchen is too small. They tie up money (and credit scores) as quickly as possible and regard any attempt to save as being cheap. <br /><br />Women often multitask their financial obligations in foolish ways. They'll take on major projects A, B, and C at once. When A turns out to be more expensive than they predicted, they begin to pull money out of B and C. This often causes projects B and C to fail because they've cut themselves short. Had they given themselves reasonable margins of error and attempted to tackle big projects one at a time, they would have made much more progress. Instead, they often accomplish little beyond the accumulation of debt.tommynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-64186927127551872011-05-01T20:44:31.314-07:002011-05-01T20:44:31.314-07:00Albertosaurus: It's all about racial prejudice...Albertosaurus: <i>It's all about racial prejudice. Krugman and the others recognize that in many ways the fifties were better organized for the well being of most Americans. But they balance that against the racial prejudice of those times and conclude that we are better off now. Maybe they need to take the next step.</i><br /><br />This is exactly correct. People like Krugman think back and recognize that the 1950s were better for almost everyone from their background, but they then recognize the obvious non-PC racial implications and automatically take a step back.<br /><br />Anonymous: <i>I highly doubt you'd find many blacks willing to go back to the 50s</i><br /><br />Well, that's probably true, but let's consider the actual reality a bit, rather than the media-induced system of perceptions. Just to be fair, let's focus solely on the situation of blacks.<br /><br />In many respects, blacks are doing vastly better today than they were in the 1950s America, even factoring out the general increase of wealth and improved technology. For example, Barack Obama is President, Deval Patrick is governor of MA, and there are many, many hundreds of other extremely successful and wealthy black politicians, corporate executives, and entertainment/sports stars.<br /><br />But on the other hand, almost 40% of all urban black men are currently dead or in prison. Add their immediate family members, and you can see why the "mysterious" degree of black despondency often noted in polls and often cited by the MSM is perhaps a bit less mysterious than it might seem.<br /><br />I suppose in 1955, Nikita Khrushchnev could have given a speech pointing out how wonderful the Bolshevik Revolution had been for people of a Ukrainian rural peasant background such as himself. After all, in Czarist days someone like himself would have never had the slighest chance of becoming the national leader. Admittedly, starving to death something like 15% of the entire Ukrainian population was a significant minus, but breaking a few eggs and all that.<br /><br />Similarly, I think that all historians agree that after the Black Death exterminated one-third of Europe's population, the survivors benefitted greatly by the increase in available land and the reduced labor competition. So presumably all the countries began building monuments and composing hymns praising their God for having sent them such a wonderful and mysterious blessing.<br /><br />And actually, the current situation of American blacks is vastly worse in relative terms. My impression is that virtually the entire black middle class---the only sizable group of blacks that have actually benefitted from the social changes since the 1950s---is a creation of government jobs and government-induced AA policies. Now at some point, sooner or later, that system will become unsustainable and disappear. And at that point, the entire American black middle class will also disappear with it...RKUnoreply@blogger.com