Fun facts: if Joan Holloway from “Mad Men” were a real person, she would be two years younger than David Broder. Pete Campbell would be four years older than Marty Peretz.
I recommend following the Paul Krugman/Brad DeLong tag-team smackdown of the Superfreakaonomics duo. There’s something profound to be said about it all, but I’m too lazy to be precise and not drunk enough to let it rip.
Another open thread. Sorry we’re lazy this weekend. I don’t like this time of year.
Update. Miss Farrell scares the hell out of me.
Update update. Felix Salmon has more on Freakonomics.
Update update update. Felix Salmon’s original review of Freakonomics is brilliant, one of the best blog posts I’ve ever read anywhere. It’s difficult to summarize, but here’s one of the last paragraphs:
At heart, Freakonomics is not a book about economics at all: it’s a book about a hero who can ask the right questions and uncover the truth. Once you’ve read it, you’ll know lots of interesting facts you didn’t know before. But it won’t make you stop and think (stopping and thinking is the job of the hero), and it certainly won’t “literally redefine the way we view the modern world,” as the jacket copy has it. You know how that crack gang was just like McDonald’s? Well, this book is too. You finish it off quickly, but end up vaguely dissatisfied: all the added sweeteners and calories serve to mask the fact that there’s very little protein or nutritional value.