Peter on November 28th, 2009

The Washington Post (‘Cash for Clunkers,’ household edition) reports on the inevitable next stimulus program.  After home buyer credits and vehicle trade-in incentives, the next program is focusing on household appliances. Rather than gaining assets and depreciating them over the long term through maintenance and repairs (thus reducing expenses), Schumpeter’s ”creative destruction” seems to be the [...]

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Peter on November 27th, 2009

The Washington Post (Lobbyists pushed off advisory panels) reported on the Obama Administration’s new policy to prohibit lobbyists from serving on federal advisory panels.  It will be interesting to see the way the committee system restructures to return to its previous state.

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Peter on November 21st, 2009

Today I had the pleasure of conducting dissertation research at the Library of Congress.  Standing on the steps of the Jefferson building, I took the photo above of the U.S. Capitol building.

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Peter on November 14th, 2009

I was reading the following article in the Post (Federal oversight of subways proposed), which discusses a proposal by the Obama administration to have the federal Dept. of Transportation (DOT) oversee the nation’s subways rather than leave them to state and regional oversight boards. I came across the passage about having oversight bodies pass “certification [...]

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Peter on November 10th, 2009

The New York Times (Degree Required, but You Don’t Have On) reports on the importance of credentials. From the article: Owning that paper may seem especially important when the unemployment rate is high. Many employers are now reflexively listing a bachelor’s degree as a requirement; it’s an easy way to help whittle down hundreds of [...]

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Peter on November 7th, 2009

I’m finally here in DC…

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