I had a long conversation with Noah Smith on the twitter, which was fun. He asked that I first imagine that Person 1 and Person 2 own an apple and an orange respectively. Then he said imagine they 1) do not trade, or 2) trade them. He asks whether (1) or (2) has the same… Continue reading Baselines still useless, a reminder
The Myth of Ownership Affects Judges, Part II
Part one is here. I’ve been researching how judges deal with tenants using Section 8 vouchers who make claims against landlords for money damages. For instance, when a landlord does not properly maintain the unit (a breach of the implied warranty of habitability), a tenant is generally allowed to receive damages equal to a percentage… Continue reading The Myth of Ownership Affects Judges, Part II
Top 5 posts of the year
Most of my blogging has moved elsewhere, but I do still occasionally blog here. So this is the top 5 most viewed posts of the year: What’s more important: a college degree or being born rich? Education and poverty, again 3 theses on higher education Admitted fuck up Ezra Klein is less interested in inequality… Continue reading Top 5 posts of the year
Salon: “Free speech” hypocrites: Dixie Chicks, Duck Dynasty and America’s pointless shell arguments
I have a piece over at Salon about the silly way we have these shell arguments about procedural things (like speech rights) that are actually motivated by substantive things (like whether we agree or disagree with what is being said). It’s solid.
Duck Dynasty, Jim Crow, and poor whites
Phil Robertson said this about life in the Jim Crow south: I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field….… Continue reading Duck Dynasty, Jim Crow, and poor whites