7 bad economic ideas

Went to a talk by Jeff Madrick, veteran journalist from the New York Times on the bad ideas that mainstream economists have inflicted on the world. Those economists think that:

• labor is paid what it deserves
• prices set by the market are right
• inequality is not an issue - all that matters is opportunity and growth
• inflation is the only worry
• low budget deficit is a priority
• government must be small
• education fully explains inequality

1. The invisible hand - Adam Smith has a lot to answer for.  Smith believed that buyers and sellers left to their own devices will come to an equilibrium.  This simply does not happen. The case of a too beautiful idea that does not work
2. Say's law -which states that savings are automatically invested, so that there cannot be an overall shortfall in demand. A further implication of Say’s Law is that government stimulus can never do any good, because deficit spending by the public sector will always crowd out an equal amount of private spending. This principle has hurt most with governments paying down public debt at times when public investment was most needed
3. Low inflation is all that matters - 2% inflation target is a myth - there is no empirical evidence to support it.  The truth is that low inflation helps the wealthy.  Low inflation has become the only policy of the US Federal Reserve
4. Friedman's folly - Friedman vehemently believed that government should only intervene when the market fails.  As a consequence of this type of thinking economists have completely failed to construct a proper theory of government involvement
5. Efficient markets - Financial markets are so efficient that they can properly assign prices. Since when should stock prices dictate the true value of a company
6. Globalization is always good
7. Economics is a science - it is nothing of the sort

Thanksgiving

I woke to snow on the ground outside my window.

 A day spent in Plymouth at the National Day of Mourning for indigenous peoples across the world.

The Mayflower is unbelievably tiny.

Plymouth Rock is so underwhelming I could not even be bothered photographing it.  Here instead is another rock that is a bit more awe inspiring....

Go Crimson 2

The truth is that Harvard is far from the best college football team in the US but you have got to love this particular fan's own 7 degrees of separation logic:


Harvard beat Yale who beat Army who beat Connecticut who beat Central Florida who beat Brigham Young who beat Texas who beat West Virginia who beat Maryland who beat Indiana who beat Missouri who beat Texas A&M who beat Arkansas who beat Ole Miss who beat Alabama who is currently the number one ranked team in the nation. Draw your own conclusions - Go Crimson!!!

Photos 

Go Crimson!

What a game!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=400558443

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/11/23/win-the-game-career-maker-for-harvard-players/4RbqEcV8SbYX9lWoOrhpZM/story.html 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Conner Hempel threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Fischer with 55 seconds to play and Harvard beat Yale 31-24 to capture the Ivy League title outright after blowing a 17-point, fourth-quarter lead on Saturday.
Harvard won for the eighth straight year over their longtime rivals, the first time either school has won eight consecutive games in the series since the 1880s.
But it ended with a wild final quarter.
Paul Stanton Jr. also had a 1-yard TD run for the Crimson (10-0, 7-0 Ivy), who finished off their 17th undefeated season with their 14th consecutive victory.
Tyler Varga rushed for two TDs and caught another for Yale (8-2, 5-2), which was seeking a share of the Ivy crown. It would have been the 14th in school history.
Connor Sheehan returned an interception 90 yards for a TD, Hempel threw a 40-yard scoring pass as Harvard opened a 24-7 lead late in the third. Yale came back with three fourth-quarter scores, tying it on Kyle Cazzetta's 33-yard field goal with just under 4 minutes to play.
The Crimson then marched 78 yards for the game-winning score, capped by Hempel's toss to Fischer in the right corner of the end zone.
Yale moved into Harvard territory before Scott Peters picked off a pass at the 15 to seal it.
After Sheehan pulled the ball away from receiver Robert Clemens in front of Yale's sideline and raced down for the score with 6 seconds to play in the third, the Bulldogs answered with a quick scoring drive, capped by Varga's second scoring run of the game. The Bulldogs scored again on their next possession when Morgan Roberts hit Varga with a 7-yard TD pass, slicing it to 24-21 with 8:21 to play.
Harvard won eight consecutive matchups with Yale from 1880-89 (the schools didn't play every year back then).
Hempel had hit Fischer with the 40-yard toss late in the third quarter. Fischer, looking back into the sun near the 5-yard line, reached over a Yale defensive back to make the grab before stumbling into the end zone to make it 17-7.
Trailing 7-3, Harvard took the second half kickoff and marched 58 yards, taking the lead on Stanton Jr.'s 1-yard scoring run.
On a cold and windy day in the nation's oldest stadium -- Harvard Stadium, which was built in 1903 -- the Crimson went to the locker room behind after a half that was highlighted by a couple of their missed opportunities.
There was added pregame buzz to college football's oldest rivalry with ESPN's College GameDay visiting for the first time.

Tail gate parties at the back of the stadium

The Crimson practicing before the game

The thing below next to the band is a bulldog (Yale bulldogs)  that the hasty pudding crew proceeded to destroy

And the band played on...

Paper City

I went out to Holyoke in Western Massachusetts to talk to to Holyoke Gas and Electric about their municipal broadband.

Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, with an estimated population of 40,135. Holyoke’s roots are in manufacturing, in particular paper mills. From the late 19th century until the mid-20th century, Holyoke was the world's biggest paper manufacturer.

 Holyoke was one of the first planned industrial communities in the United States.Today, it is economically impoverished, with a large immigrant population, high crime rates and unemployment.

The guys however at HGE were amazingly positive and committed to the work they are doing. 

Tim showing us the demonstration units that are replicas of the units deployed out in the network.

Tim, Kurt and Jim from HGE took us out to the Hydro electric power station which uses the water from the Connecticut River. 

Waide Warner  is a member of Team Fibre. He was a senior partner at the most prestigious ( and at time infamous) Wall Street law firm Davis Polk.  Waide is a Senior Leadership Fellow at Harvard Business School.

Mount Holyoke College
The Seven Sisters, a consortium of prestigious East Coast liberal arts colleges for women, originally included Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Barnard, and Radcliffe colleges. Today, five of the Seven Sisters remain women’s colleges; Vassar is coeducational and Radcliffe has merged with Harvard, becoming the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

 Waide and David Talbot.

And yes it was as cold as an Eskimo's ass out in West Mass, thanks for asking.

Harvard- Yale Game this week

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/11/19/preparing-for-the-storm/

Some details about the stadium
Nestled in a spectacular setting next to the Charles River and with the Boston skyline on the horizon, Harvard Stadium ranks among the nation’s finest college football facilities.
Built in 1903, it is also the nation’s oldest stadium. Harvard Stadium is a horseshoe containing architectural elements of a Greek stadium and Roman circus and is considered an engineering marvel, as it was the world’s first massive reinforced concrete structure and the first large permanent arena for American college athletics. With a seating capacity of 30,323, Harvard Stadium is praised for its outstanding sight lines for fans.
Harvard Stadium once accommodated as many as 57,166 spectators when steel stands were built in the north end zone. Those stands were removed in 1951.

For the first time in history the Harvard -Yale Game will be the feature game on ESPN
Harvard - Yale

Tom Brokaw

Tom Brokaw, long time NBC reporter was in the JFK forum talking about his key role in reporting on the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Perspectives on the Middle East

Went to a talk given by Prof. Greg Gause on the new cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia for control of the Middle East.  Both of these countries are seeking to manipulate the multitude of weak states in the region.  By weak state, Prof Gause means those states that have weak State and societal underpinnings.  It is not measured by military strength.  Iraq is a weak state; Qatar and Kuwait, are relatively strong states with money to influence other nations politically. Turkey which is a relatively strong state, both militarily and politically has baulked at exercising hard power in relation to Syria.



Also sat in on a talk by Jeffrey Goldberg a veteran Middle East journalist.  He says that ISIS has completely changed the dynamic for Western journalists.  Previously, western journalists were given protected status because of their access to global audience.  ISIS has forever dismantled this through its targeting of journalists for beheadings.  Jeffrey's latest piece can be accessed at
Before the Beheadings


He also wrote an amazing article about Security Theater and the sham of Homeland Security
Security Theater


Also attended a talk put on by the Palestinian Caucus From MLK, to Mandela, to…Palestine? The Palestinian national struggle in a civil rights framework A talk by Rami Khouri

Harvard v Columbia

Harvard thrashed Columbia 45-0.

Went to see Karen Armstrong talk about her new book Fields of Blood about religion and violence - talk took place in the First Parish Church in Cambridge

Fascinating graphic of freight movement across the US and overseas.

Freight movement  Click on Australia

Democrats got their butts kicked

Unfortunately Martha Coakley lost.  Not helped I think by the antipathy of the Boston Globe who wrote a number of sneering articles about her not being enough of a politician.  That is what I liked about her - she was a doer. She worked to make change.


Some nice words from Martha to her supporters

Dear Carolyn, Thank you to everyone across the Commonwealth who supported me in this race and thank you  to the best campaign team and group of volunteers that anyone could ask for. I said at the  beginning of this race that no one would knock on more doors or make more phone calls than  we would and that is exactly what we did. I cannot thank you enough for the countless hours you have put into this, and for working  your heart out. I will never forget it.  One of the best things about this campaign, was the people I have met along the way. We ran to  make sure that everyone has the opportunity to find their dream and follow it.  I hope everyone out there will keep fighting for what you believe in and the people you believe in.  I know I will. And I want to say this to all the young women out there - throw your hat in the ring. Lean in and  follow your dreams. And if you don’t win the race or succeed the first time around - get back  in the arena.  Thank you for the honor of allowing me to serve you for all these years. Martha

Festive bunting in the JFK Forum - one side is not going to be happy after tonight...

The First Tuesday in November

The First Tuesday in November may mean the nags, gambling and fascinators to Australians; here in the Home of the Brave it means Election Day.

And it ain't looking good for the Democrats.  We will see what the day brings....

Some of the issues locally
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/11/4/cambridge-vote-governor-question/

Día de Muertos Potluck

Celebrating Day of the Dead with my Mexican classmates

At Last! A sport that Harvard does well at!

Yup, you heard it.  I bet you couldn't guess it either...................



It is women's ice hockey- 5 Olympians from Sochi no less - and one of them was the head coach.

My first ice hockey game.  It was awesome - the speed and the skill.  Women don't fight either which is nice - but it is still extremely physical.
Harvard were in the black and crimson shirts.

Harvard won 4-1 - we should have won by more.  First game of the season however so they should get better.