Happy Holidays!

Here's hoping your holidays Gogh well!

My Favorite Christmas Song

Merry Christmas Everyone.  I give you Clarence Carter with Back Door Santa.

Negative Externalities

A good explanation of negative externalities and Pigouvian taxes from Prof. Michael Munger.  (thanks to Patrick at Popehat)

Rationality and Bad Beats

Deadspin reports on a freakish occurrence in Boston, with video.  Team A is up by 2 points with a player on the line for one shot.  There's one second on the clock.  What's the rational choice in this situation: 1) intentionally miss the free throw so that the opposing team has only one second to recover the rebound, turn, and fire off a hail mary, potentially winning the game? or 2) try to make the free throw, allowing the opposing team to set up a play, with a more manageable three-point attempt.  In this actual case, the player chose 1, the opposing team got the rebound and made the hail mary, winning the game.  Deadspin argues 2 was the better choice. 

It's difficult to be certain in the abstract.  Much of this depends on the likelihood of making a 75 foot shot, as opposed to a shot at half court or closer.  But most of us who have played basketball know this: the chances of making a 3 point attempt decrease exponentially the further out you are.  For many, the odds in making a half-court shot are nil, as the distance is too far for them to reach the goal.  But the average high school player can hit the rim from half court with a running start.  Move it back to full court and the odds must be incredibly small.  Ergo, I go for 1.  Bad beats don't prove that we've played the game incorrectly; bad beats occur just as do black swans.  All we can do is walk away bemoaning our bad luck. 

Saturn

Taken by Cassini.  For more pictures go here:  NASA

Dealing With Scarcity

This article from the Greenville News reminds me of a reason I don't like the political control of economic goods, the difficulty in dealing with scarcity. 

The facts: certain schools in Greenville County are preferred over others--a common occurrence.  Greenville opted to conduct an open enrollment for these schools.  Preference would be given to those who were first in line.  The consequences were predictable: there was a race to get in line to apply.  At one school, the resource officer purportedly counted off the seconds before parents were allowed on campus:

" A parent said the school’s resource officer counted down the final seconds, lowered his arm and shouted, “Go!”At that, the parents sprinted across the driveway toward the school. One mother was “accidentally bumped” in the stampede, fell and suffered minor injuries. She was taken away in an ambulance and treated for “cuts and scrapes,” a school district official said."

Perhaps Greenville County will come away from this with the idea that the only problem is coming up with the best way to distribute these seats.  Unfortunately, there is no good way to distribute these seats satisfactorily, as any process will favor some over others.  Perhaps a lottery is most fair, but it by its very nature ignores need and best fit as criteria for selection.

Say what you will about the free market, but it solves the problem of scarcity pretty effectively.  Each dollar is a vote, and each vote is blind.  And if one loses a scarce good to another with more votes, one has incentive to create a competitive response.  

Merry Christmas

You're a Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown (courtesy SNL)

New Zombie Movie

Take CERN, the Large Hadron Collider, mix with creative grad students, and get:  DECAY

FOTD (Fight of the Day)

Hall and Oates go at it in Ohio.  (h/t Best of the Web)

Fun Times in Academia

From Greg Mankiw, this video debuted at the Harvard Economics Department Christmas party.  Looks like a great place to work!

A Group is Not a Person!

The European Union wins the Nobel Peace Prize.   [blogging will be light this week as this is Finals Week at the U]

In Praise of DeMint

It was with regret that I heard that Jim DeMint is resigning from his Senate seat.  Some of my liberal friends were gleeful, but this strikes me as short-sighted.  DeMint was a principled conservative; he voted and acted as he believed.  He's a good contrast to South Carolina's other senator, Lindsey Graham. Lindsey knows his own mind.  Unfortunately, the rest of us don't.   DeMint will now be replaced by Nikki Haley; it's a crap shoot whether we'll get a good replacement. 

Dave Brubeck, RIP

Jazz great Dave Brubeck passed away yesterday.  There is nothing I can add to the accolades, other than USC Upstate was fortunate to have him visit once, play the piano and talk to the small audience.  I was impressed by his music, of course, but also by his kindness.  He will be missed. 

Craziness

As much as I love college athletics, I am saddened by the following: " According to a report by the National Football Foundation, 33 U.S. colleges have introduced football programs since the start of the 2008 recession; 17 more programs are set to debut by 2015, and more than 20 other schools have formed exploratory committees to consider the possibility."  Colleges, especially small private colleges, are using college athletics to boost enrollment.  In so doing, college athletics comes to dominate and takes over the educational mission.

This quote is from an article in SI on the murder of a college football player at Tabor College, Brandon Brown.  It's well worth the read.  (thanks to Carol for the tip)

Today's Fun Infographic

Courtesy of Deadspin, a graphic depicting the growth of public financing of stadiums across the country.

QOTD

Quote of the Day:  "I've suffered for my music, now it's your turn." Neil Innes

Costas and Gun Control

Bob Costas on Sunday Night Football argued tonight for gun control: "If Javan Belcher did not own a gun, he and his girlfriend would still be alive."   There are only two problems here,  One, it's a counter-factual claim one could never hope to support, unless one really knew Javan Belcher and of what he was capable. Two, gun policy, as with every other governmental policy, should not be made on the basis of one tragedy.  We can point to this case where had the gun been absent, the death might not have occurred.  But we can also point to cases where, if a victim had had a gun, he might be alive today.  In sum, Costas' comments are a cheap way of exploiting a tragedy.