(A dramatic reenactment of Brooks on the Euro and the problem with those swarthier type Europeans.)
- It is, as others have pointed out, amusing to see Brooks point to the Germans as the embodiment of capitalist ambition versus those lazy Greeks and Italians. It should be noted, by the way, that the average Italian works over 350 hour per year more than the average German. Indeed, the average German, clocking in at about 1419 hours worked per year, works less than pretty much any other OECD country, except the Netherlands, another country cited by Brooks as a model for capitalist virtue. The average Dutch person works about 110 hours per month. One thing that you can pretty much count on is that in matters of economics, David Brooks is always wrong.
- Krugman, who has this habit of looking at facts in arriving at positions, has a good chart today noting that the interest rates currently being paid on European debt have little to do with the generosity of social programs in various countries.
- I've been meaning to comment on this for the last week or so -- alas travels have really killed my posting -- but what in the world could possess Andrew Sullivan to keep nattering on and on -- in highly dubious fashion -- about the study of race and intelligence, bemoaning in the process the unwillingness of most people of good faith and sound mind to stay away from this loaded topic. Now I am somewhat indulgent of Sullivan as a general rule despite some real ugliness by him over the years -- I generally find him to be highly entertaining and intelligent, even if I have significant areas of disagreement with him. But the whole Bell Curve thing was pretty unforgivable and this recent inexplicable foray back into this zone is as well. Anyway, Roy pretty much handed him his ass last week in a rather concise and definitive manner. Nothing more to add, except that if you don't want to be treated as a racist, than stay away from classic racist memes. It's not the bold pursuit of truth, it's offensive and historically and scientifically illiterate.
What's on your minds?
