Note: This is the first of what might be an irregular “column” of sorts, “Inside Baseball,” focusing on the minutiae of my research, as opposed to current events. The heart of game theory is “what would everyone else think if I do what I am about to do differently?” This is slightly different than … Read more
So, dispensing with technicalities, the efforts to curtail NSF funding of political science research have apparently succeeded, at least for now. I think this is a good opportunity to post something that has bothered me over the past few years. In a nutshell, I am unsure that the “Coburn amendment” is a bad thing for … Read more
Just a quick post. Yesterday, the Senate voted to invoke cloture (63-35) on the Mikulski-Shelby substitute to (i.e., the Senate version of) the continuing resolution, HR 933. In a nutshell, this obviates threats to delay this funding bill, which I have discussed previously (here and here). I bring this up because it bolsters the case I … Read more
In my previous post, I discussed the Senate’s consideration of a continuing resolution (or CR) that includes some provisions relevant to gun control. In so doing, I mentioned a form of unanimous consent agreement, or UCA, (like this one) that the Senate has been using for consideration of measures that would presumably otherwise fail to obtain … Read more
The Senate is considering a continuing resolution (CR) that both extends funding operations of the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2013) and also makes permanent several provisions that stymie enforcement of gun control laws. While the reality is that the provisions in the Senate bill do not represent a significant change in … Read more
Bad money drives out good. – Gresham’s Law Gresham’s law was coined (hahaha!) back when it was apparently okay to call things laws based on a hunch. Nonetheless, it has a solid theoretical foundation. To understand it, just consider how you would pay for things if gold and lead were both made legal tender at … Read more
There is a simmering debate about the science of politics. For example, here’s a recent uninformed and deliciously uninformative anger-fueled argument that political science does not “serve the public”—a notion that any good political scientist knows is the warm bed of those too lazy to consider the vacuity of the notion of “serving the public.” … Read more
The US Senate is currently considering immigration reform, with a bipartisan group of Senators working toward a compromise on one of the higher profile post-election issues. At the same time, the Obama Administration has been preparing its own plan, which was leaked by USA Today. President Obama called on Congress to address the issue in … Read more
I have to be honest—I don’t actually know the criteria for being classified as naughty or nice by Santa. I also don’t know how I would find out. I do know that he flies around the world giving out “incentives” once a year. …It turns out that the Obama Administration is stealing a page from … Read more
I’ve been reading several papers lately that examine the effects of various government policies on various social and economic outcomes. Increasingly, I find myself wondering what these studies actually conclude with “null” results. (By the way, I am sure that this issue has been raised before, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately, … Read more