Recently, we’ve seen many op-ed essays calling for more transparency in financial statements, particularly with respect to mortgage-related securities.  Many of these essays have been written by famous and esteemed individuals or their staffs.
In our own idiosyncratic, round-about way, we’ll explain the empty silliness of such arguments, and we begin by criticizing the notion that “more […]

Or—to seriously mix our metaphors—falling head-over-heels for the wolves’ claims that the “sky is falling.”
Our favorite line from the play and movie, A Man for All Seasons, is Saint Thomas More’s statement at his trial in which he gently belittles one of his perjuring accusers, Richie Rich:
“Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for […]

For those readers unfamiliar with web argument styles, there is something known as Godwin’s Law that states as an on-line discussion groups gets larger, it will be increasing likely that one discussant will compare another one to Adolph Hitler.  Thus, Godwin’s Law is related to the older notion of reductio ad hitlerum>, which at times is expressed as argumentum […]

On Tuesday, the Chairman walked into the office and asked whether we thought the losses and uncertainty in the financial markets were winding down.  We replied that we doubted it and, in addition, we hoped not. 
Our response was not out of envy or due to any schadenfreude.  Instead, it was based upon what we believe to be our mature, […]

Last week we wrote a post “People Who Hate Themselves (& Everyone Else)” in which we described a category of pathetic losers who seek happiness (or at least validation) through the misery of others.  To be clear, we were not describing the passive satisfaction or joy—the schadenfreude—of watching others lose or suffer.  Instead, we had in mind the […]

Our favorite daily newspaper seems to be slipping, by the, err, well, day.
Monday’s The Wall Street Journal included a special section called Business Insight, which contained a feature article “Does Being Ethical Pay?” The authors claim that their research shows that consumers will pay more for “ethically” produced goods.
First, they provide no evidence that consumers do pay […]

Yesterday in the Corner, which is National Review’s blog for those readers not in the know, there was a brief discussion of Rousseau and Voltaire.  The exchange included a remark about Voltaire’s cleverness and a few paragraphs about the nature of cleverness by John Derbyshire.
We, too, have reflected on that trait for awhile—both its positive and negative connotations.  However, unless one dislikes positive traits like intelligence, wit, and […]