Econ Rap

Little late in posting this little ditty from Russ Roberts. We're not ALL Keynesians now. Hayek is dead; long live Hayek.

Best Walmart Ad Evar

Republicans as hypocrites

Normally this word is used in a moral context. However, this graph illustrates how I think Republicans are hypocrites and possibly the key reason I struggle to identify myself as such. Notice the massive increases in public debt during the Reagan and Bush years. So much for fiscal conservatism.

HT: Zion's Bank

Summary of my 70s project

I've spent the last while reviewing the last ten conferences, specifically studying each sermon given by a member of the seventy, so what I might have forgotten. I found some gems and thought I'd share them. Here are my favorite five talks and then five honorable mentions. They are my favorites either because they are profound and/or very important at this time, affected me personally, and/or enlightened a topic in a new and different way that I found particularly noteworthy.

1 - Gerald Lund - April 2008 - Opening our Hearts

God allows us to be the guardians, or the gatekeepers, of our own hearts.We must, of our own free will, open our hearts to the Spirit, for He will not force Himself upon us.

2 - Kent Watson - October 2009 - Temperate in All Things

Likewise, a temperate soul—one who is humble and full of love—is also a person of increased spiritual strength. With increased spiritual strength, we are able to develop self-mastery and to live with moderation. We learn to control, or temper, our anger, vanity, and pride. With increased spiritual strength, we can protect ourselves from the dangerous excesses and destructive addictions of today’s world.

3 - Neil Andersen - October 2008 - You Know Enough (he is now an apostle)

Brothers and sisters, we each have moments of spiritual power, moments of inspiration and revelation. We must sink them deep into the chambers of our souls. As we do, we prepare our spiritual home storage for moments of personal difficulty.

4 - Tad Callister - October 2009 - Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration

There will always be some seemingly intellectual crisis looming on the horizon as long as faith is required and our minds are finite, but likewise there will always be the sure and solid doctrines of the Restoration to cling to, which will provide the rock foundation upon which our testimonies may be built.

5 - Whitney Clayton - October 2007 - Blessed Are All the Pure in Heart

When a dinner-sized fish came near the trap and sensed the bait, it would find an opening on the side of the trap and swim in, just squeezing between the cut wires. Then, when a trapped fish tried to swim out, it would discover that it was one thing to squeeze past the cut wires to get into the trap, but it was an entirely different thing to swim against those sharp ends to get out—it was caught.

Joseph Sitati - October 2009 - Blessings of the Gospel Available to All

Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord revealed that the determining criteria for the order in which the gentile nations are invited include the capacity to spiritually and temporally nourish the kingdom of God as it is established on the earth for the last time.

Dale Renlund - October 2009 - Preserving the Heart's Mighty Change

Enduring to the end can be challenging because the tendency of the natural man is to reject the spiritually changed heart and allow it to harden.

Carlos Amado - April 2008 - Service, A Divine Quality

Kindness, love, patience, understanding, and unity will increase as we serve, while intolerance, jealousy, envy, greed, and selfishness decrease or disappear. The more we give of ourselves, the more our capacity to serve, understand, and love will grow.

Lance Wickman - April 2008 - Today

This life is not so much a time for getting and accumulating as it is a time for giving and becoming.

Robert Oaks - October 2006 - The Power of Patience

Patience may well be thought of as a gateway virtue, contributing to the growth and strength of its fellow virtues of forgiveness, tolerance, and faith.

Political musings

I have felt entirely disenchanted by the three presidential administrations that I have lived through during my married life, and the executive branch seems to be in far better shape than the legislative. I have felt far from any political party in my views of both what to believe in and how to get things done. However, I have also felt that I should be far more active politically to attempt to be less of the problem.

As a consequence, on a long flight this week, I took the opportunity to make a list of the primary political issues that matter, then wrote down my beliefs, then rated those beliefs by their alignment with the stated platform of the Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties. I'd actually like to see how they align with others as well, particularly Constitution and Green. I had been feeling that I probably aligned best with the Libertarians these days. The tally:

Republican - 90
Libertarian - 86
Democrat - 61

I was a bit surprised by this.
1) I did not think I'd be most aligned with the Republican platform. I realized that I agree broadly with the beliefs, but disagree strongly with the alignment of those beliefs with actions (e.g., massively expanding government spending), the methods and the madness of Republican politicians.
2) I thought Libertarians would be on top. Those of you that are thinking "but Republican and Libertarian are basically the same" need to study up on Libertarianism. Not so at all.
3) All three scores are fairly high. Politics are a spectrum, and I'm more moderate that I thought I'd be given how opinionated I feel about the topic. Look at me - I'm a centrist!

As I've considered how to properly enter the political debate, I found this speech inspiring.

EDIT - I just added another issue. Current score: L 96, R 92, D 69.

Ethnic markets

In the name of sharing:

Asian: China Market on 90th S just west of state on the south side of the road
Latin: La Herradura de Oro on 78th & Redwood

Does anyone have a favorite Middle Eastern market?

The Antidote

I'm in the middle of reviewing a long series of conference talks. I am acquainted with several folks that seem to struggle with false inadequacy, exaggerated imperfection, and needless guilt. A few thoughts on how to overcome them here.

Happy Friday.

Recommended stuff from 2009

Not a top ten list. Just a few of the best stuff I enjoyed during the last year. I'm sure I've missed a few important ones, but this is a pretty good year.

Restaurants:
JoJo
Cut
BLT
Tao
Prime
Bouchon

Books: (I never would have expected a list without fiction)
Outliers
The Much Too Promised Land
Predictably Irrational
Crisis of Abundance
Cooking

Boardgames:
Agricola
Railroad Tycoon
Le Havre
Tichu

Gadgets:
My new smoker
Snowboard
Videocamera
iPhone
PS3
Kindle
Panini Press
RedLaser
Bose headphones

Events/Activities:
Snowboarding with my kids
FastPass at SeaWorld
VIP at Disney World
Third row of Suns @ Magic
Lagoon in the rain
Ragnar

Blogs:
Six in 2006
Mankiw
Cato
My Husband Cooks
Cafe Hayek

Guilty as charged

I was born an economist.

Entitlements

Is our health care crisis one of cost or coverage? This graph makes the answer fairly clear.