A song for all those special snowflakes in Congress: Most Republicans in swing districts are steering clear of in-person town hall gatherings this week, hoping to avoid the anti-President Trump protesters determined to make them the star of a viral YouTube video.
Arrow’s healthcare primer
Kenneth Arrow passed yesterday. He was my second favorite economist who made their bones in the 50s and 60s. Much like Herb Simon (my favorite) he makes my head hurt whenever I try to think hard about what he is saying in whatever field he is commenting on and thus leading it in a new, …
Weaponized Fragility
If you’re willing to read one more piece connected with the Yiannopoulos shit-show, make it this essay by Laurie Penny: “On the Milo Bus with the Lost Boys of America’s New Right.” (Brought to our attention in the overnight thread by valued commenter TheMightyTrowel.) As the title suggests, the article isn’t so much about Yiannopoulos …
Open Thread: Democracy, Down at the Pointy End
Town hall scenes from Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maryland tonight, where voters showed up but GOP congressmen were no-shows. pic.twitter.com/qfNRnNASlI — Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) February 22, 2017 Angry constituent gives Mitch McConnell the what for pic.twitter.com/tyHseJVtqd — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 21, 2017 The (lazy, bothsiderist) NYTimes is forced to notice — “At Town …
Open Thread: Democracy, Down at the Pointy EndPost + Comments (145)
A response to AER re evaluating by Excel
I recently read an interesting but I think incomplete and less than pragmatic paper in the American Economic Review by Fang and Gong. In that paper they use Medicare Part B claims data to advance what they argue is a good first pass claims fraud detection methodology. They seek to identify individual National Provider Identification …
A response to AER re evaluating by ExcelPost + Comments (12)
On The Road
Folks, We’re trying a new feature here, so let’s see how it goes for the next week or so before it’s fully automated. This post is for Balloon Juicers who are on the road, travelling, etc. and wish to share notes, links, pictures, stories, etc. from their escapades. As the US mainland begins the end …
Under Cover of Darkness Open Thread: CPAC, Milo, and the Limits of Cleek’s Law (Part the Second)
*very liberal wonk voice* "i miss the days when cpac was about big ideas." pic.twitter.com/Ne2lFGfBd2 — mike casca (@cascamike) February 21, 2017 Cleek’s Law: Today’s conservatism is the opposite of what liberals want today, updated daily. Roy Edroso, at Alicublog: I see Milo Yiannopoulos’ friends have turned on him. Just kidding — they were never …