Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

More McCain Bashing

Posted on November 19, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Matt Stoler has a pair of interesting posts on John McCain. Since they dovetail pretty well with why I like some things about McCain but think he shouldn’t be President, ever, I recommend them : MyDD :: ‘Reform Republicans’ – The McCain Scam and BOP News: Coming Back to the Blogosphere.

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | Comments Off on More McCain Bashing

Hazards of IDs: Price Discrimination

Posted on November 19, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

People often focus on the wrong things when worrying about ID cards. For me, one of the right things to worry about is price discrimination. Not necessarily the illegal sorts, like redlining, but the legal sorts, in which firms try to sort buyers by their ability to pay, or their intensity of preference. In economic terms, in some cases its an attempt to shift consumer surplus to producer surplus; in other cases it’s an attempt by a local monopolist to move the apparent supply curve. (I’ve discussed aspects of this problem in a number of articles, the most accessible of which is probably DeLong & Froomkin, Speculative Microeconomics for Tomorrow’s Economy.)

For a real-life example of the kind of price discrimination I mean, see Ed Foster’s Gripelog || Dell Has Three Prices For One Part.

Posted in ID Cards and Identification | 1 Comment

Have A Ball

Posted on November 18, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Have a ball — visit the Blue Ball Machine.

Where does Ann Bartow find these things?

Posted in Internet | 4 Comments

Worst President Ever?

Posted on November 18, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

worst-president.jpg

Nice sticker. But is it true?

Nominations for Presidents even worse than GWB — if any — are now open.

I have come around to the view that GWB is substantially worse than Nixon. And also Jefferson. But is he worse than Andrew Johnson? Than US Grant? Andrew Johnson had some principles, but they were pretty bad ones on the whole. Grant was a great general but an unabashedly awful President. And there are surely some obscurely bad Presidents that I’ve neglected?

Or, I suppose, this could perhaps be no more than another example of the middle-aged propensity for the jeremiad…

Posted in Politics: US | 98 Comments

Bet He Fit Right In

Posted on November 17, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

American Charged in Iraq Scheme an Ex-Con: U.S. occupation officials gave a man with a federal fraud conviction control of millions of dollars for Iraqi reconstruction. Now the man is charged with accepting kickbacks to steer contracts to a businessman. …

At one point, Bloom was allegedly paying at least $200,000 a month to [Coalition Provisional Authority] officials and others, …

It’s really true: no matter how bad you think they are, this administration is actually substantially worse.

Posted in Politics: The Party of Sleaze | Comments Off on Bet He Fit Right In

Herd Migration Warning

Posted on November 17, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Today the GOP coalition cracks up on domestic policy.

The shape of tomorrow’s (ok, maybe January’s) foreign policy crackup can be glimpsed in this piece of apostasy from a conservative military-loving Democratic Congressman, Congressman John Murtha’s turnabout on Iraq. Not only does it serve as prologue for the next act, but it increases the pressure…

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off on Herd Migration Warning