Day

March 31, 2012

“Extractive Economic and Political Institutions”

That’s One Way to Put It According to “Why Nations Fail,” a book cited by Tom Friedman in his New York Times column today, egalitarian institutions are the key to successful nations, “extractive economic and political institutions” lead to failed ones. I have no issue with the authors’ observations and conclusions — after all, they’re Tenured...
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“You’re Going to Trip on Your Laces!”

For the record, practically all my shoes these days are slip-on’s (easier for showings and repeatedly taking them off and putting them back on).  However . . . as someone who’s heard that line, ahem, more than once in their life, I thought — as a public service on behalf of non-shoelace tie’ers everywhere —...
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Finally: a Closing Scene Worthy of “The Graduate”

“Wave to Me!”  “What?!?” “Wave to Me!” It only took 45 years, but there’s finally a closing scene worthy of the unforgettable classic at the end of The Graduate. Except that it’s a “parallel universe,” anti-version.  If you aren’t familiar with The Graduate’s climactic scene, a desperate Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) interrupts the wedding of his...
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